Questions, Prevention, Symptoms, Treatments, Skin Tumors Healthcare professionals and scientists have carefully prepared this ALtruis Biomedical Network-affiliated site, intended for informational purposes only .
Cancer is an abnormal growth of the body's own cells .
Cancer occurs when our normal cells become altered at the genetic and biochemical level in a way that permits them to divide into many more cells than would normally be present in that tissue. It might eventually break off and enter the blood stream and be carried to other parts of the body. When it spreads to other parts of the body, it is called metastatic cancer. Most cancer deaths are due to metastatic disease. Cancer is not an infectious or contagious disease like the flu, a common cold, or a bacterial infection.