What is cancer? How many kinds of tumors are there?

                              Cancerous tumors

 

                            Tongue Cancer

What is cancer? How  many kinds of tumors are there?

Cancer is a group of several hundred diseases in which abnormal cells are not destroyed by normal metabolic processes but instead proliferate and spread out of control.

Cancers are distinguished from each other by the specific type of cell involved and the place in the body in which the disease begins.

 In another words “Cancer is an abnormal growth of a body cell or group of cells.

 If it is not destroyed or removed, cancer can spread very rapidly, and eventually lead to death”.

There are two kinds of tumors - Malignant, and benign.  

What is the difference between a malignant and a benign tumour?

Tumor can be benign (not a cancer) or malignant (a cancer). 

Benign tumours do not invade other tissues or spread to other parts of the body, although they can expand to interfere with health structures. 

The main features of a malignant tumour (cancer) is its ability to grow in an uncontrolled way and to invade and spread to other parts of the body (metastasis).

In another words a benign tumor is more common, and is generally harmless.

It doesn't grow beyond a certain limit, and it doesn't spread to other parts of the body.

A malignant tumor on the other hand, never stops growing and can spread to other parts of the body.  

Cancer is the name given to a malignant growth.