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Page 15
| is dependent on the influences of these genes and on other regulators, such as hormones, growth factors, and cytokines. |
| Malignant (cancerous) cells look very different from normal cells. They are quite irregular in shape, have large, irregular nuclei, and are primitive in appearance because they generally fail to differentiate. These abnormal cells grow in an uncontrolled pattern; they never stop reproducing themselves; they grow at a faster rate than the normal tissue of origin; they do not properly perform the functions of the tissue of origin (or they don't perform the functions at all); and they often metastasize, invade, and destroy areas distant from the primary (original) site. They grow into tumors that interfere with the body's functioning by crowding organs and by invading and destroying surrounding healthy tissue and stripping the body of nutrients; and they can cause the body's muscle and fat to break down, thereby leading to cachexia (severe weight loss that can eventually kill the patient). Cancer cells also inhibit immune system functioning, causing some patients to contract deadly diseases, such as pneumonia. |
| A normal, or apparently normal, cell evolves slowly into a cancer cell by means of a sequential accumulation of alterations in the genetic material (DNA) that comprises proto-oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes. Because it takes time for these alterations or mutations to occur, most cancers occur in older people. The accumulated damage to the gene is caused by adducts, chemicals that attach to the gene and disturb its function. When cancer occurs in infants and young children, it is usually because their apparently normal cells have one copy of a defective (or missing) oncogene, or, more often, a tumor-suppressor gene that was inherited from one of their parents. |
| Cancer, when left untreated or ineffectively treated, will prove fatal, sometimes within one to two years of diagnosis in the case of more aggressive forms of the disease. The majority of malignancies are fatal within five years. Even with aggressive conventional treatments, survival rates are sometimes limited because of recurrence of the tumor line, sometimes within five years of apparently successful therapy. |
| It is difficult for most people to choose a completely holistic approach to cancer treatment, even though this might be the best choice in some cases. For instance, certain cancers, such as early-stage breast cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, and low-grade lymphomas, respond very well to herbal treatments, yet seem to be aggravated and sometimes worsened by surgical |
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