This fact sheet will address some common questions that people ask about cancer. To answer such difficult questions, it is necessary first to understand what cancer is, how it develops and what factors contribute to cancer.
Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of cells that disrupts body tissues and organs.
Cancer cells are not normal in their structure and function. They grow and multiply to form tumors that invade local tissues and sometimes scatter throughout the body. At the beginning, there are no warning signs to alert us to the disease. Later, the signs of cancer are related to the location of the tumor. As cancer progresses, it produces a wasting away of the body, pale skin, pain, fatigue and loss of appetite.