What is Cancer?

Cancer is not a single or monolithic disease but rather a group of 200 plus diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells resulting in malignant tumors. Distinct from a benign or encapsulated tumor, malignant tumors possess the ability to penetrate tissues or organs, and move or metastasize to other sites. Depending on its stage, grade and site of origin, cancers have the ability to seed to an adjacent area called seeding or to metastasize from a primary to secondary or distant sites by the vascular or lymphatic systems. Later stage cancers may effect the functioning of vital organs, upset the body's metabolic process, or create obstructions.