What is Cancer?

What is Cancer?

What is Cancer? 

Your body is made of cells. Normally cells die after a certain amount of time once they get worn out and have done their jobs. Healthy new cells replace them, ready to take over to get the jobs done. Cancer happens when cells keep growing and making new cells without dying. These cancer cells can crowd or invade normal cells. This makes it hard for your body to work the way it should. Cancer cells can also enter the blood stream and/or the lymph system and spread to other parts of the body. This spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body is called metastasis. 

"What is Cancer?" by Emory University Cancer Quest 

How is a cancer diagnosis made?

A cancer diagnosis can only be made by looking at cells or tissue under a microscope. A specially trained doctor called a pathologist looks at the cells. Cancer cells look different than normal cells. 

What type of cancer is it?

Cancer can start from many different places in your body. For example, cancer can start in your solid organs such as the lungs, colon, breast, and liver. Cancer can also start in your blood or bone marrow (Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma). Cancer is named after the place where the cancer first started to grow. There are over a hundred different types of cancer. Some cancers are slow-growing and easy to manage. Other cancers are fast-growing and harder to treat.

How far has the cancer spread?

The stage of cancer is how far the cancer has spread from where it first started to grow. Having recommended screening tests help to find cancer early before it has time to spread. It is usually easier to treat a cancer when it is found early.

The Most Common Types of Cancer in the U.S. by Statista 

Cancer Among Alaska Native People 

Cancer Burden Booklet by American Indian Cancer Foundation

Why are cancer rates higher among native people? 

https://www.americanindiancancer.org/ai-an-cancer-burdens/

To Lean More: 

American Cancer Society. (n.d.). What is cancer? https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-basics/what-is-cancer.html

American Indian Cancer Foundation. (n.d.) Why are cancer rates higher among native people? https://www.americanindiancancer.org/ai-an-cancer-burdens/

Cancer.Net. (n.d.) What is cancer? https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/cancer-basics/what-cancer

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.) United States Cancer Statistics: Data Visualizations. https://gis.cdc.gov/Cancer/USCS/DataViz.html

Mayo Clinic. (2018, December 12). Cancer. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20370594

National Cancer Institute. (n.d.) What is cancer?  https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer

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