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Cell division is rapid and occurs for large number of times in young and developing animals.

As a result the organism grows in size. As organism becomes an adult, the cell division in several tissues slows down. Some tissues may completely stop dividing. A tumour is large mass of cells formed due to uncontrolled mitotic division of cells. When these tumors are kept in enclosed in a layer of current tissue and does not spread, such tumours are called benign tomours. They are usually harmless and are removed by surgery. Cells from tumours spread to other parts of the body and produce large no. of cells in other parts also. This type of tumour is called malignant tumour. This condition is called malignancy or cancer. In such conditions, the person becomes weak looses appetite and may ultimately die.

Researchers divide the causes of cancer into two groups: those with a hereditary genetic cause and those an environmental cause. Environmental in this sense means all non-hereditary factors, and encompasses far more than environmental pollution. About 5-10% of cancers are directly due to hereditary genetic factors. The remaining 90-95% of cases are due to environmental factors, such as old age, lifestyle choices, tobacco use, dietary choices,obesity, infections, radiation, lack of physical activity, and environmental pollutants.[1] Types of cancer :

Carcinoma: Cancer derived from epithelial cells. This group includes many of the most
common cancers, including those of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.

Sarcoma: Cancer derived from connective tissue, or mesenchymal cells. Lymphoma and leukemia: Cancer derived from hematopoietic (blood-forming) cells Germ cell tumor: Cancer derived from pluripotent cells. In adults these are most often found
in the testicle and ovary, but are more common in babies and young children. Blastoma: Cancer derived from immature "precursor" or embryonic tissue. These are also commonest in children.

Cancers are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ or tissue of origin as the root. For example, a cancer of the liver is calledhepatocarcinoma; a cancer of fat cells is called a liposarcoma. For some common cancers, the English organ name is used. For example, the most common type of breast cancer is called ductal carcinoma of the breast. Here, the adjective ductal refers to the appearance of the cancer under the microscope, which suggests that it has originated in the milk ducts.

An invasive colorectal An invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast (pale area at the center) surrounded by spikes carcinoma (top center) in acolectomy specimen. of whitish scar tissue in the surrounding yellow fatty tissue.

A squamous cell carcinoma (the whitish tumor) near

A large invasive ductal carcinoma in amastectomy specimen.

the bronchi in a lung specimen.

Cancer is fundamentally a disease of failure of regulation of tissue growth. In order for a normal cell to transform into a cancer cell, the genes which regulate cell growth and differentiation must be altered.[4] The affected genes are divided into two broad categories. Oncogenes are genes which promote cell growth and reproduction. Tumor suppressor genes are genes which inhibit cell division and survival.

The major cause for cancer is a change in DNA of the cell. A change in DNA is mutation. Mutation occurs due to several reasons. The agents that cause cancer are called carcinogenic agents.

There are 3 types of agents that cause cancer. There are physical, chemical and biological agents.

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