CANCER from A to Z

cancer  Although usually thought of as a single disease, cancer encompasses almost 100 disorders caused by some 300 different growths. It is know by other terms: malignancy, meaning that without treatment it will eventually cause death; neoplasm, indicating new growth. The word tumor, comes from the Latin word for swelling, and "solid" tumor is used to describe cancers other than leukemia and lymphoma. Cancer may be thought of as the unchecked growth of out-of-control cells. Normal cells, the building blocks of all living things, have a definite life span and when removed from the body and grown artifically in tumor culture ultimately stop reproducing and die by a process called programmed cell death or apoptosis.However, cancer cells grown under similar laboratory conditions are immortal and continue to reproduce indefintely when supplied with nutrients  and oxygen. The same is true for cancer cells in the body. Although cancers differ from noncancerous or benign tumors in many ways, the two most obvious are their abilty to grow into or invade adjacent normal body tissues and structures, and to spread or metastasize to distant sites such as lymph nodes and other organs.

American Cancer Society   ACS is a voluntary organization that provids printed material and conducts educational programs about cancer. Calls are accepted and publciations are furnished in Spanish. A local ACS chapter may be listed in the white page under "American Cancer Society." 1599 Clifton Road, NE, Atlana GA 30329-4251; Tel. 800-227-2345; Web site http://www.cancer.org