9781422280331

The C Word

Causes of Cancer In a basic sense, all types of cancer have the same cause. It all goes back to the cells that began replicating out of control. The real question is, what caused those mutations to occur in the first place? Unfortunately, the answers to that question are varied and complex, and in many cases they remain a mystery. Because cancer involves genes, which are passed along from parents to their children, we do know that heredity plays a role. According to the National Cancer Institute, somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of all cancer cases are what are called hereditary cancer syndromes . In these cases, the people involved were born with particular genetic changes that led to their cancers. These mainly involve malignant tumors—breast cancer is probably the most famous type of cancer that tends to “run in families.” But if you think about it, 5 to 10 percent

This diagram shows how cancer can begin with one cell and gradually progress.

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