What is Cancer?

It's a disease that's been around for millions of years. Cancer has even been found in dinosaur bones!

The ancient Egyptians had it and the Greeks even came up with its name - it means "crab".

It is a common disease and it is likely sometime in your life you will know someone who is affected by it.

There are over 200 different kinds.

Cancer happens when a small bit of how a cell works or behaves goes wrong.

The human body is made up of hundreds of different sorts of cells which all have different jobs to do to make the body work.

When cells go wrong, they grow the wrong way and they can start destroying healthy body tissue.

For more information please visit www.cancerresearch.co.uk 

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast. Damage to the DNA of these cells results in uncontrolled cell division and growth, and, eventually, sufficient cells accumulate to form a lump.

The cells invade normal surrounding breast tissue and can break off from the primary lump to spread in lymph channels or the blood stream to other organs where secondary lumps (metastases) may form.

The breast is divided into ducts and lobules. The most common form of breast cancer arises from the ducts and is known as invasive ductal carcinoma. Cancers arising from the lobules (invasive lobular carcinomas) are less common.

As with most cancers, the key to successful treatment is early diagnosis before the cancer has had the chance to spread to other organs.

For more information please visit www.breastcancercare.org.uk

What is leukemia?

Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood and is the most common type of childhood cancer. The bone marrow is the soft, spongy center of the bones and produces the three types of blood cells: white blood cells that fight infection, red blood cells that carry oxygen, and platelets that help with blood clotting and bleeding.

When a child has leukemia, the bone marrow begins to make blood cells that dont mature properly. The immature cells continue to reproduce, crowding out the healthy ones. Normal, healthy cells reproduce only when they have sufficient space.

Additionally, the body regulates the production of cells by sending signals to start and stop reproducing and to die. When leukemia occurs, the leukemic cells can send fraudulent signals to the normal cells that tell them not to reproduce; at the same time, the leukemia cells dont respond to the signal to stop reproducing. It is not yet understood how this happens.

The majority of leukemias in children result from a chance mutation in a gene or genes that enable the leukemic cells to reproduce.

Some factors such as infections with certain viruses, chemicals or medications have been associated with the development of leukemia. Rare inherited diseases that affect the production of bone marrow cells also predispose some people to develop leukemia.

However, little is known about the actual causes of the great majority of cases childhood leukemia.

For more information please visit http://www.lrf.org.uk/

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