How do cancer cells exist and grow in our bodies?

Cancer is a terrible disease that kills millions of people every year. The root cause of cancer is cancer cells, which are mutated cells, capable of multiplying and mutating indefinitely, destroying normal tissue to form tumors, even endangers the health of the whole body

What we need to understand is that cancer cells are actually normal cells in our body, but they have undergone some changes that have caused them to lose their normal function and control, thereby becoming should proliferate and invade abnormally.

Our body is made up of trillions of cells, each cell has its own gene, a molecule carrying genetic information that determines the cell's characteristics and functions. Under normal circumstances, cells divide and die in an orderly manner according to genetic instructions to maintain the body's balance and health.

Cancer cells are actually normal cells in our body.

However, sometimes, errors occur in a cell's genes. These errors are called mutations , and mutations can cause changes in the properties and functions of cells. Most mutations are harmless, some are even beneficial to cell adaptation and evolution. However, some mutations can cause cells to become harmful, and these mutations are the main culprits in causing cancer .

So why do cell genes mutate? What factors can cause mutations? In fact, cell genes are easily mutated because they are made up of a molecule called DNA . DNA consists of 4 bases (A, T, C, G) arranged in a certain order. , each base has its own corresponding base, for example A corresponds to T, C corresponds to G, thus forming the double-stranded structure of DNA. When cells divide, DNA copies itself to ensure that each new cell has a complete copy of its genes.

However, during the replication process, errors sometimes occur, for example, a certain base is mistakenly replaced by another base, or a certain base is added more or less, which will lead to DNA damage, a change in sequence is called a point mutation, which is the most common type of mutation. In addition to point mutations, there are other types of mutations, for example, a certain segment of DNA is repeated or deleted, or two segments of DNA are swapped, these mutations are called structural mutations and they will cause cause changes in the structure of DNA.

Abnormalities in the number of chromosomes cause changes in the cell's genome.

There is also a type of mutation called chromosomal aberration , which means that the number of certain chromosomes (structures consisting of multiple strands of DNA) is more or less than the normal number, causing changes in the cell's genome.

So how do these mutations happen? What factors will promote the emergence of mutations? In fact, the occurrence of mutations is a random, unpredictable and inevitable process.

However, there are some factors that increase the likelihood of mutation, called mutagens , including: chemicals such as tobacco, coal tar, benzene, arsenic, etc., which can be directly or indirectly further damages DNA and causes mutations. These chemicals are called chemical carcinogens and they are one of the important causes of cancer.

In addition to these external mutagenic factors, there are also several internal factors such as age, genetics, immunity, etc. , which can also influence the occurrence of mutations. In summary, the emergence of mutations is a complex process, affected by many factors and each person's circumstances are different, so it is difficult to accurately predict and prevent the occurrence of mutations. mutation.

The occurrence of mutations is a random, unpredictable process.

We already know that cancer cells are caused by mutations in normal cells, but not all mutations lead to cancer . In fact, our body has a very complex mechanism to detect and correct mutations or eliminate mutated cells to prevent the occurrence of cancer.

So how do cancer cells escape these mechanisms to survive in our bodies and even grow? This requires us to understand something about the characteristics and behavior of cancer cells . First of all, we need to know that cancer cells are not produced overnight but go through a long process, this process can be divided into 3 stages.

The first stage is the onset stage: this is the first stage of cancer, this stage is also the most critical stage. At this stage, a number of important mutations have occurred in the cell's genes. These mutations are called oncogenic gene mutations , which will cause the cell to acquire some properties that are beneficial to cancer. such as increasing the rate of cell division, reducing the ability of cells to grow and resisting cell death, etc.

Not all mutations lead to cancer.

These mutant cells are the initial form of cancer cells. Although they are very few and weak, they have the potential to become cancerous. As long as the conditions are right, they will continue to grow.

Next is the disease stage: this is the second stage of cancer and the longest stage. At this stage, cancer cells have not yet completely escaped the control of normal cells, they still need some external stimulation to continue to proliferate and develop. These stimuli are called cancer-promoting factors, which include some mutagenic factors and some factors that can stimulate cell growth, such as hormones, growth factors, inflammatory factors, etc

These cancer-promoting factors will cause cancer cells to continuously undergo more mutations , causing them to take on more cancer-causing properties, eventually reaching the progression stage: this is the third stage of cancer. and is the most dangerous stage. At this stage, cancer cells have completely escaped the control of normal cells, no longer need any external stimulation and can proliferate and evolve autonomously. These cancer cells have formed an organized structure called a tumor, which can invade surrounding normal tissues and even travel to other parts of the body through the blood or lymph fluid. blood to form metastases. This is a malignant tumor that we commonly call cancer.

 Creating cancer cells is a very complex process.

These cancer cells have completely lost the properties and functions of normal cells. They only know how to endlessly consume the body's resources, destroying the body's balance and endangering health. of body.

From the introduction above, we can see that the creation of cancer cells is a very complex process, requiring the coordination of many factors and the accumulation of many mutations to eventually form. cancer. This also shows that cancer prevention and treatment is a very difficult task, requiring comprehensive intervention and management from many aspects, levels and angles. We cannot expect a method that can completely eliminate cancer in a simple way, nor can we rely on some treatment methods that have no scientific basis. We need to establish scientific methods to deal with cancer, the common enemy of humanity.