What is Cancer?

Body cells die and are regularly replaced. This is a normal healthy process. Each cell contains a 'code' which instructs it how to multiply and when it should die. When something goes wrong with this process, cells can begin to develop abnormally. In the healthy body, the immune system works to identify these abnormal cells and destroy them before they proliferate. However, when abnormal cell growth is not controlled by the immune system, it may spread into surrounding tissue and damage organs, blood vessels, nerves and other body systems.
While research strongly supports a genetic component to cancer, it is also becoming increasingly clear that environmental triggers and circumstances are instrumental in whether or not cancer will develop. In other words, a genetic predisposition to cancer will only be translated into cancer itself if there is exposure to cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) or circumstances which precipitate the cancer. While the exact causes and dynamics of cancer are not yet fully understood, it is well known that exposure to certain toxins like tobacco smoke, industrial chemicals or to radiation and ultraviolet sunlight can play a major role. Risk of cancer may also be linked to certain hormones, stress and even to some well-known and commonly used food additives.

Just as there are many different potential causes of cancer, so are there many different types of cancer - from hormone related cancers like prostate cancer, breast cancer, cancer of the cervix and testicular cancer, to cancers of the blood like leukemia and lymphoma. There is no doubt that cancer is becoming a growing epidemic and has been identified as the second most common cause of death in the UK and USA.

A diagnosis of cancer can be a devastating blow. Even the word strikes fear into many hearts and may be seen as a death sentence. These days, however, this is not necessarily the case. As researchers find out more about how cancer develops and how best to manage it, many patients are being successfully treated and even cured of cancer.
How is cancer usually treated?

The three main options for treating cancer in conventional medicine are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The most appropriate treatment or treatment combination will depend on the type of cancer, the location, the stage of the disease and whether it has spread around the body.

Removing the tumor or affected area by surgery can prevent spread of the cancer and is often the option that will be most likely to cure the disease completely. Surgery isn’t always appropriate however, for example, if the cancer has already spread to different parts of the body or for certain types of cancer which are not localized, like leukemia (cancer of the white blood cells).

Radiation therapy may be used alone or after surgery in order to destroy any remaining cancer tissue that was not removed. This treatment is used locally. The radiation is focused on a specific area where it will kill cells which are dividing rapidly - like cancer cells.
Chemotherapy is the third treatment option. This is best suited for cancer that is present in several places in the body or types that aren’t effectively treated by surgery or radiation. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill rapidly dividing cells (like cancer cells) and this is the reason for the numerous side-effects of this treatment.

While conventional medicine has made many advances made in the treatment of cancer, critics point out that while the treatment is often 'successful', the side effects frequently result in further damage to the system. The mortality rate of cancer patients due to the side effects of treatment as well as hospital acquired infections is seen by many as unacceptably high and there is no doubt that, while it can be successful at times, conventional cancer treatment is also unavoidably harsh and potentially harmful to the system. For this reason, medical research is ongoing in a search for more effective, yet less harmful cancer treatments. The role of traditional herbs, complementary therapies and natural remedies in the treatment and prevention of cancer is also increasingly a topic of research, often with very promising results.