What is cancer?
In defining cancer, there is the scientist's terminology, the medical doctor's terminology, and the layman's terminology. This article is an attempt at using something even more basic, and less accurate, than even layman's terminology and uses examples that represent the concept of cancer, but not the exact or precise function of cancer.
A cancer is a growth of abnormal cells that damage healthy cells. Think of cancer as weeds in a garden. If you have flowers, small plants, and weeds in a garden, the weeds, if uncontrolled, will take over the garden killing the flowers and the small plants. This is the killing power of cancer.
The function of cells in the body:
The body is made up of cells. These are microscopic entities that come together to form our bodies. Much like a coral reef where millions of tiny living creatures come together, bind to one another, and create a huge formation, the individual cells form our body.
There are different kinds of cells for each segment. We have cells that create our skin. Different cells create our hair. Other cells create our liver, etc. Each kind of cell is a living organism. Each organism has a center and each center has the blueprint that will be used to procreate. This blueprint is called DNA, which is Deoxyribonucleic acid (De-oxy-ribo Nucleic Acid).
When the cells are ready to reproduce, each cell makes an exact copy of itself, becoming two connected together, and then dividing into two identical individuals. What makes this process work properly is that the cells have a timetable. The cells are born, live to do a specific job, and die at a designated time. So, in essence, there is a job for every worker and a worker for every job. In the event of the death of a few cells (for example, if we cut our finger thereby killing a lot of skin cells that were not supposed to die), the body will produce enough new cells to replace the lost cells (and the finger heals). If massive amounts of cells are lost, such as in an explosion or a horrible car accident, then the body can not repair itself and death occurs.
Cells are living organisms so they must have food, water, and a place to live. Since space and resources are limited, only so many cells can live at a time. As long as everything works properly, the balance of cells is maintained and the body functions normally.
When things go wrong:
A cancer is a growth of cells that do not belong. They eat, drink, and need a place to live. However they do not have a job (a reason, a function, a purpose). They do not have a timetable for living and dying either. There is no extra room for them to live and there is no extra food and water, so they have to make a place to live by killing off the good cells. Since there is no timetable for their reproduction, life, and death, they breed rapidly and they kill the good cells and/by take(ing) the food and water. Once too many of them inhabit one place, they need to branch out so that they can have food and water so they can live.
For example, if the first cells settle on the liver, then the subsequent generations settle on the liver, too. They keep creeping forward, upward, and inward killing the liver cells and taking their place. Eventually, there are not enough liver cells left to do the job of the liver and the liver ceases to function. Before the liver is destroyed, some of these cancer cells start looking for a new place to live. Maybe they move to the cells nearest the liver. Maybe they travel into the lymph system. Maybe they jump into the river that is the blood stream and float along until they find a new place to call home. This is called metastasis (muh-TASS-tuh-sis).
Where does the first bad cell come from?
That is still a point of research and debate for some kinds of cancer. What is recognized now as the cause of cervical cancer is a virus (human papillomavirus). The virus works its way into the center of the cell where the blueprint (DNA) is stored. The virus corrupts (damages, changes, alters) the blueprint. When the corrupted cells of the cervix replicate, they are no longer cervical cells. They are abnormal rogues and they stake out some territory. If the body is working properly, and there are no major catastrophes elsewhere, the immune system, most likely, will attack the intruders and kill them. The fledgling cancer colony will no longer exist. If the immune system is compromised or just busy elsewhere, the colony sets up shop.