This week's artwork was donated by Lauren , a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia . As a patient, it is really difficult to sort out exactly what all these terms mean.
Cancer is a form of abnormal cell growth in tissues of the body.
Under normal circumstances, as we grow and age, the individual cells in the tissues of the body will replace themselves through a regular process of cell growth. This process is usually very regular and organized. When growth of the cells of an organ becomes out of control, the resulting tissue may form a lump of abnormal cells, or a nodule, or a growth of tissue made up of cells that no longer are doing the job they were meant to do. Growths can be benign tissue, such as a scar or a wart, or can be cancers. Another term for a growth can be a lump or a nodule .