In fact, most types of cancer can be treated and some even cured. Despite incredible medical advances, cancer is ranked second only to cardiovascular disease as the deadliest killer in America - claiming approximately 560,000 lives last year. More than four out of 10 people diagnosed with cancer are surviving. Preliminary data for 1995 suggests that cancer deaths have begun to decline for the first time. However, on average, more than 1,500 people in America will die from cancer every day.
Most cancers develop slowly from a complex sequence of events.
DNA is the structure in our cells that builds our chromosomes, which serve as each cell's control center. DNA also contains genes, the basic unit of our heredity that tells our cells who we are and what to do. An alteration is usually caused by multiple factors which alter normal cell growth. Most scientists accept the theory of initiation and promotion. Initiation means the DNA has converted, that something has caused mutations.