How Does Cancer Form?

     Cancer can occur to anybody, anywhere, at anytime. Cancer doesn't care who you are, nor does it care what you are doing with your life or what you have planned. Cancer doesn't care how old you are; it can occur at any stage in life. Yes, cancer is a poignant disease that seeks to selfishly destroy.

     One may wonder how this awful invader may enter into your personal space known as your body. The body is a cellular organism made up of multiples and multiples of cells. Some cells, such as blood cells, regenerate themselves and have an actual life span, where as other cells, such as the muscle cells, do not and last through out a life time to serve the purpose of motion. These are just two examples of cells that form in the body. The cells that do have a life span, will rejuvenate themselves by individually bearing two daughter cells which then further subdivide and develop with each of those daughter cells bearing their own daughter cells. This cycle continues keeping the body rejuvenated.

     When cancer forms, it forms from either a mutated cell or from cells that don't readily die off. These cells either have a rapid growth spurt of production or they will form by attaching themselves to healthy cells where a tumor forms by further regeneration of daughter cells which also will be attached to the healthy cell. Thus, creating a road block to the healthy cycle, detouring the cells into the abnormal growth.

     The immune system will try to fight off any pathogen, or "foreign being" found in the body, but when a sudden burst of cells develop adaption can occur. When this happens the body does not recognize the growth and therefore does not fight it off. A more simpler explanation might be that the body has fighter cells, the white blood cells, that go after the enemy, in this case the abnormal formation of a cluster of cells. They war against them to defeat them and regain their territory in the body. When the enemy cell disguises itself, the fighter cells do not recognize them, therefore since the enemy cells are in hiding, so to speak, the fighter cells can not fight against their enemy to be able to defeat them. Thus the enemy cells set up a camp in the body known as a "tumor." The tumor continues to grow as more enlisted men (cells) are generated.

     Researchers are now trying to develop a vaccine to eliminate certain cancers. A vaccine is made up of small amount of the pathogen that the body will want to fight off if it were to develop in the body. When introduced into the body, the vaccine gives the fighter cells a picture of the pathogen "to study" in case of future attacks by this enemy. Thus, this "profile picture" of the pathogen gives the fighter cells time to know its enemy and allow them time to prepare in case of invasion of the enemy cell. The fighter cells would then be properly prepared to fight off the enemy when it first shows up eliminating its invasion. Vaccines take approximately two days to two weeks to be effective.

     With time maybe research will be able to develop such a vaccine and with our donations we individually can say, "And I helped!" ~ Relay Rethy