Cancer is abnormal cell growth within the body. It is when normal cells become mutated and then these mutated cells continue to reproduce. Cancer cells do not differentiate, have abnormal nuclei, and do not undergo apoptosis. What this means is unlike the other cells in our body, cancer cells do not die. They rapidly produce and their nuclei is enlarged. Keep in mind that there are also other abnormal cell growths that can occur within the body and it doesnt mean that every abnormal cell growth is cancerous. The abnormal cell growth will eventually form tumors. Not all tumors are cancerous. There are two types of tumors; benign and malignant. Benign tumors are noncancerous and malignant tumors are cancerous. Abnormal cells multiply rapidly and cluster up together to form a tumor. Another thing to note is that different kinds of cancers have different mutational signatures (Mike Adams et al.) This is why cancer in general is hard to cure because there are so many types and each type differ from one other in regards to their cells.
The development of cancer isnt something that happens overnight either. The development of cancer can take years. There are multiple steps or stages that these cells go through to become cancerous. First, the formation of t
he tumor will occur. Then this tumor will undergo metastasis, which means the tumor will break off into fragments and spread to other parts of the body. Next these tumors will undergo angiogenesis, which is where blood vessels are formed in the tumor and nutrients and oxygen can now be supplied to the tumor. Even though the cancer has spread to different parts of the body from the original starting point, it would still be considered one type of cancer. For example, if a person had a tumor in their pancreas and the cancer spread to the bones or lymph nodes, this cancer would still be called pancreatic cancer because it originated in the pancreas. Knowing this information will make understanding the different stages of cancer much easier. There are technically five stages of cancer and they are: stage 0, stage I, stage II, stage III, and stage IV (Stages of Cancer, 208). Stage 0 means that the cancer hasnt spread, it is sedentary in one part of the body. Stage I means that it has started to spread into nearby tissues, but isnt deep rooted anywhere. Stage II and stage III have spread deeply within the nearby tissues and possibly the lymph nodes. Stage IV is the worst stage of cancer and this means that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.