Where is cancer from

Read more. Does This Cause Cancer? More In Cancer A-Z. Others tend to stay where they started. Some types of cancer are best treated with surgery; others respond better to drugs such as chemotherapy. Often 2 or more treatments are used to get the best results. What makes cancer different is that it can spread to other parts of the body while benign tumors do not.

Cancer cells can break away from the site where the cancer started. These cells can travel to other parts of the body and end up in the lymph nodes or other body organs causing problems with normal functions.

Cancer cells develop because of multiple changes in their genes. These changes can have many possible causes. Lifestyle habits, genes you get from your parents, and being exposed to cancer-causing agents in the environment can all play a role.

Many times, there is no obvious cause. Inside the nucleus are chromosomes made up of thousands of genes. Genes contain long strings of DNA deoxyribonucleic acid , which are coded messages that tell the cell how to behave.

Each gene is an instruction that tells the cell to make something. This could be a protein or a different type of molecule called RNA ribonucleic acid. Together, proteins and RNA control the cell. They decide:. Genes make sure that cells grow and make copies reproduce in an orderly and controlled way.

And are needed to keep the body healthy. Sometimes a change happens in the genes when a cell divides. This is a mutation. It means that a gene has been damaged or lost or copied too many times. Mutations can happen by chance when a cell is dividing.

Cancer may also spread through the bloodstream to distant parts of the body. These parts may include the bones, liver, lungs, or brain. Even if the cancer spreads, it is still named for the area where it began. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, it is called metastatic breast cancer, not lung cancer.

Video used with permission from BioDigital Systems. Read a full-text transcript. Often, a diagnosis begins when a person visits a doctor about an unusual symptom.

The doctor will talk with the person about his or her medical history and symptoms. Then the doctor will do various tests to find out the cause of these symptoms. But many people with cancer have no symptoms.

For these people, cancer is diagnosed during a medical test for another issue or condition. Sometimes a doctor finds cancer after a screening test in an otherwise healthy person.

Examples of screening tests include colonoscopy , mammography , and a Pap test. A person may need more tests to confirm or disprove the result of the screening test. For most cancers, a biopsy is the only way to make a definite diagnosis. A biopsy is the removal of a small amount of tissue for further study.