what is the cause of cancer?

Answer 1

There are about 200 different types of cancer affecting all the different body tissues. What affects one body tissue may not affect another. For example, tobacco smoke that you breathe in may help to cause lung cancer. Over exposing your skin to the sun could give you a melanoma on your leg. But the sun won't give you lung cancer and smoking won't give you melanoma.

Apart from infectious diseases, most illnesses are 'multifactorial'. Cancer is no exception. Multifactorial means that there are many factors involved. In other words, there is no single cause for any one type of cancer.

Carcinogens - A 'carcinogen' is something that can help to cause cancer. Tobacco smoke is a powerful carcinogen. But not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer. So there must be other factors at work.

Age - Most types of cancer become more common as we get older. This is because the changes that cause a cell to become cancerous in the first place take a long time to develop. There have to be a number of changes to the genes within a cell before it turns into a cancer cell. The changes can happen by accident when the cell is dividing. Or they can happen because the cell has been damaged by carcinogens and the damage is then passed on to future 'daughter' cells when that cell divides. The longer we live, the more time there is for us to accumulate these genetic mistakes in our cells.

Genetic make up - There have to be a number of genetic mutations within a cell before it becomes cancerous. Sometimes we are born with one of these mutations already. This does not mean we will get cancer. But with one mutation from the outset, it makes it more likely statistically that we will. Doctors call this 'genetic predisposition'.

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes are examples of genetic predisposition. Women who carry one of these faulty genes have a higher chance of developing breast cancer than women who do not.
The BRCA genes are good examples for another reason. Most women with breast cancer do not have a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA 2 gene. Less than 5% of all breast cancer is due to these genes. So although women with one of these genes are individually more likely to get breast cancer, most breast cancer is not caused by a high risk inherited gene fault.

Researchers are looking at the genes of people with cancer in a study called SEARCH. They also hope to find out more about how other factors might interact with genes to increase the risk of cancer. Information about this study is on our clinical trials database. Either follow the link or click on the blue button to the left of any CancerHelp UK screen. Then type SEARCH into the Free Text Search box. Please note that you cannot volunteer for this study.

The immune system - People who have problems with their immune systems are more likely to get some forms of cancer. This group includes people who-
- Have had organ transplants and take drugs to suppress their immune systems to stop organ rejection
- Have AIDS
- Are born with rare medical syndromes which affect their immunity.
The kinds of extra cancers that affect these groups of people fall into two, overlapping groups

Cancers that are caused by viruses, such as cervical cancer or some lymphomas -
- Lymphomas
- Chronic infections or transplanted organs can continually stimulate cells to divide. This continual cell division means that immune cells are more likely to acquire mutations and develop into lymphomas.

Diet - Cancer experts estimate that changes to our diet could prevent about one in three cancer deaths in the UK. In the western world, many of us eat too many animal fats and not enough fresh fruit and vegetables. This type of diet is known to increase your risk of cancer. But how exactly we should alter our diets is not clear. There is more about this in the page on diet causing cancer.
Sometimes foods or food additives are blamed for directly causing cancer and described as 'carcinogenic'. This is often a distortion of the truth. Sometimes a food is found to contain a substance that can cause cancer but in such small amounts that we could never eat enough of it to do any harm. And some additives may actually protect us. There is more about food additives in the page on diet causing cancer.

Viruses - Viruses can help to cause some cancers. But this does not mean that these cancers can be caught like an infection. What happens is that the virus can cause genetic changes in cells that make them more likely to become cancerous.

These cancers and viruses are linked

- Cervical cancer and the genital wart virus, HPV
- Primary liver cancer and the Hepatitis B virus
- T cell leukaemia in adults and the Human T cell leukaemia virus.

There will be people with primary liver cancer and with T cell leukaemia who haven't had the related virus. But infection may increase their risk of getting that particular cancer. With cervical cancer, scientists now believe that everyone with an invasive cervical cancer will have had an HPV infection beforehand.

Many people can be infected with a cancer-causing virus, and never get cancer. The virus only causes cancer in certain situations. Many women get a high risk HPV infection, but never develop cervical cancer. Another example is Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
-

Answer 2

There are over 200 different types of cancer and probably as many subtypes . . . . no one knows what causes them all. And even though smoking is believed to cause lung cancer . . there are just as many people who smoke that never get lung cancer . . and there are many who get lung cancer who have never smoked a day in their life. So locating the cause of all cancer . . . we just do not really know. Some people mentioned genetics, but the truth is that out of 200 different types of cancer only a very few are considered hereditary. And, too, there are only a handful of cancers that might be considered 'caused' by the environment and those are radiation induced leukemia and methoselioma from asbestos. It is not clear at all how other cancers developed. Seems to be a relatively random event.

Still . . there are certain environmental things that seem to place people at a higher risk to develop cancer . . ie, smoking, drinking, overeating, and lack of exercise. So, if you wish to reduce your risk of getting cancer . . try moderation

Answer 3

Cancer is caused by a rebel cell. This cell reproduces at an alarming rate and deprives the healthy cells around it of protein and water. The immune system in a humans body cannot fight Cancer because it does not detect it and radiation treatment destroys what ever is left of it and opens up our bodies to another disease. Most people who do get cancer do not die because of it but because they caught something as common as a cold. There are a number of reasons Cancer is caused. Primarily it is caused by genetics. If you have a relative who had or has cancer it increases your risk of developing it. But your lifestyle definitly has a huge impact regarding if you develope it or not. Smoking is a huge contributor to lung, mouth and throat cancer. Remember that in todays's society with all the different beverages and foods with different chemicals added to them Cancer cannot be pinpointed to certain foods out there in the market. A good example is Diet coke which contains a very harmful chemical which is proven to increase the risk of breast cancer in women.

All in all cancer can be caused by numerous subjects as i mentioned above but hopefully as cancer research improves a vaccine will be developed to help our immune system to fight the mutiny.

Answer 4

Your guess is as good as the next guys. Some cancers have a clear link - smoking or asbestos or radon and lung cancer - hormones (but only because the liver has been overloaded and can not clear them properly) and breast cancer - repeated damage from trauma or burns for skin cancer - pesticide use and lymphoma. Pick a cancer and start reading as if you life depended on it and you will discover all sorts of esoteric information that you may not find on the cancer web sites.

Answer 5

Heritable mutations are the ones that depend for evolution. Most cancers are the outcomes of somatic (no longer heritable) mutations. Many families have predispositions to cancers because of heritable mutations. Some few cancers (e.G. Retinoblastoma) are a direct consequence of inherited mutation. The chances are that over time these hazardous mutations might be eradicated (which isn't to claim that new mutations is not going to arise in the equal genes). That is evolution.

Answer 6

A particular reason alone is not the cause of cancer. For more details to know about cancer and the natural treatment pls visit

Answer 7

There are SEVERAL supposed causes of cancer. To list a few, are skin damage, smoking, a disease cause HPV, there's even supposed causes like poor diet and microwaved foods.

Cancer, by definition, is a disease characterized by a population of cells that grow and divide without respect to normal limits, invade and destroy adjacent tissues, and may spread to distant anatomic sites through a process called metastasis.

The causes depend on what TYPE of cancer you want.

Like Thyroid, prostate, cervical, brain, skin, lung, throat..

Answer 8

The actual causes is not known yet, but it could be genetic (i.e., in the genes).

Smoking, infection, skin damage, exposure to some chemicals, exposure to radioactivity, diet, etc, etc, can all act as catalyst in some cases but they are not necessarily the causes of cancers.

Answer 9

A weakened immune system allows abnormal (cancer) cells to latch on to weak organs..etc. and slowly take over your body. Certain lifestyle choices mute your immune system further and allow the cancer to grow...smoking...drinking...eating poorly...stress. REFINED sugar makes it grow. But your doctor will never tell you to cut sugar out of your diet because if you aren't sick...they aren't making any money!

There are people curing their cancers all over the place. These people are doing their own research. In easy terms...they are strengthening their immune system and it's not that hard. My doctor is helping me do that now. :)

Good luck!

Answer 10

There are numbers of things that can make a cell abnormal. Cancer occurs when the abnormal cells don't die properly.