What are the known causes of cancer

1. Causes of

2. What are the known causes of cancer? There are many causes of cancer that have been identified by researchers over time. There are more than 200 different cancer types already known to experts. It can develop in any part of the body affecting any type of tissue. Clearly, the sun will not give you lung cancer and smoking will not cause melanoma.

3. Other than some of the infectious diseases, most of the common illnesses, which include cancer, are all multifactorial. This clearly shows that there are several factors involved in causing cancer. To be precise, cancer doesn’t have a single cause but there could be many causes.

4. Carcinogens or Cancer-causing substances Carcinogens are something that helps to form cancer. One example is tobacco smoke – a potent carcinogen. However, not everyone develops lung cancer by smoking. So, there ought to be some other factors too.

5. Aging Factors Cancers are very common in older people. In fact, there are some types of cancer that become more common with age. This is mainly because of the bodily changes taking place to make a cell cancerous at the first instance.

6. There are usually a number of changes affecting the genes inside a cell before it develops cancer. These changes normally happen as a result of accident when healthy cells divide. They may also happen due carcinogenic damage, and damage that is passed on to the other cells during division.

7. Genetic Factors There should be several genetic mutations within a particular cell before it develops cancer. There are times when people are born with one such mutation. This, however, does not mean that they will get cancer.

8. But when one mutation is already present from the beginning, it is likely statistically that the person will get cancer during his/her lifetime. Such cases are called predisposition. For instance, the breast cancer genes – BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genetic predisposition. Women carrying either of these defective genes have higher risk of getting breast cancer than others.

9. Immunity and Immune System People having problems with the immune system are likely to develop some kinds of cancer. There are certain groups of people to be noted – people who have undergone an organ transplant or taking drugs for suppressing the immune system to cease organ rejection; people with AIDS or HIV; people born with some rare medical syndrome affecting the immunity system.

10. There are cancers caused by certain viruses, lie cervical cancer and several other cancers affecting the anal or genital area liver cancer stomach cancer and some lymphomas. Transplanted organs or chronic infections can consistently stimulate cell division.

11. This will lead to genetic faults and may develop into cancers or lymphomas. Other factors that can cause cancer are smoking, lack of physical activity, diet, overexposure to sunlight, viruses and other environmental factors.