Cancer, also known as malignant tumor in medicine and rock in traditional Chinese medicine, is a disease caused by abnormal mechanisms that control cell growth and proliferation. In addition to uncontrolled growth, cancer cells will locally invade the surrounding normal tissues and even transfer to other parts of the body through the circulatory system or lymphatic system.

name

Cancer can also be named according to the source of tissue. Epithelial tissues are collectively referred to as "cancer", such as squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Mesenchymal tissue is called sarcoma, such as leiomyosarcoma and fibrosarcoma. A few tumors are not named according to the above principles. For example, some malignant tumors from immature tissues and nervous tissues are called blastomas, such as neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and nephroblastoma. However, a few cases are benign, such as myoblastoma, chondroblastoma and osteoblastoma. Some malignant tumors, such as malignant teratoma, malignant meningioma, malignant neurilemmoma, etc. , because of its complex composition or habitual inheritance, is added before the tumor name. Some tumors have names, such as Ewing's tumor and Hodgkin's lymphoma. Or named after the shape of tumor cells, such as giant cell tumor of bone and oat cell carcinoma of lung.

The cause of disease

The human body can destroy cancer cells by suppressing the immune system, but when the anti-cancer ability in the human body is weakened or suppressed, cancer cells will continue to proliferate and form clinically visible cancer. Medical circles at home and abroad have confirmed that more than 80% ~ 90% of human cancers are related to external environmental factors, that is, physical, chemical and biological factors in human living environment are closely related to the occurrence of cancer. Adverse environmental damage will be buffered or resisted by the human body protection system, and its function can be eliminated or weakened. Cancer may occur when the carcinogenic factors are too strong or the cumulative effect is too large, the human immune function is insufficient or the body's repair function is insufficient. At present, the environmental pollution is becoming more and more serious, the living environment of human beings is getting worse and worse, and the contact with carcinogenic factors is getting closer and closer. The stability of human cells can only be relative, and the genetic changes of human cells are inevitable and inevitable, but this does not mean that cancer cannot be overcome, and there is nothing people can do about it. In fact, each of us has some cancer cells, but only a few cancer cells can develop into cancer. The vast majority of cancer cells are either eliminated by the body in time, or have no ability to divide independently, which will not endanger human health for a long time. With the progress and development of medicine and the deepening of cancer research, people have an unprecedented understanding of the causes of cancer, occupational tumors have been basically prevented, and some cancers of the general population have also been prevented and cured. Modern medicine has recognized that tumor and cancer are both genetic diseases, and all cells contain genes that can cause cancer, and these genes are passed down from generation to generation. However, under normal circumstances, they are in a state of inhibition. Only when the relevant regulatory mechanisms in cells are destroyed, oncogenes will "do evil" and lead to cancer. "Kinase" gene family includes more than 500 different genes. Their loss of function is a common cause of cancer. These genes, like switches, control cell growth, death and mutation.