NORMAL PROCESS OF GROWTH AND DIFFERENTIATION (INTRODUCTION)
Posted by adminMany people talk and think about cancer as if it is a single disease entity. In fact, there are over a hundred different types of cancer. They do share certain features which allow us to group them under the one word ‘cancer’. However, there are many very important differences between them — they look different, start in different parts of the body, spread differently, react to different treatments, and so on.
To understand what cancer is, and why there are so many different types, we need to know something about the body’s normal structure and function. We all know that our bodies are made up of many distinctly different parts. Our heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, brain, muscles, skin, etc all look quite different and all have completely different jobs to do to keep our bodies working.
Just as they all look quite different to the naked eye, so specimens from any of these looked at through the microscope can easily be distinguished from one another. Only a very small specimen is needed because the body is made up of millions and millions of very tiny units called cells. There are about 100,000 cells in a specimen 1mm across. The pathologist looking down the microscope can identify a specimen by assessing the types of cells in it and the way in which they are arranged. Cells which have different functions look completely different.
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