Cancer cells

[Chriton]

I have read the Post "How do cancers spread" and there seems to be no practical answer so I will ask my Question.

I have been diagnosed with Squeamus Cell Lung Cancer (Non small cell) and I would like to have more knowledge on what is killing me.

I know the basics of Biology and cell reproduction.

I know that a "Cancer" is our own normal healing cells that dont switch off.

What I know is..... that when the body is injured a chemical in the blood then triggers the local cells to make tissue to heal the injury, the rogue cell is non small cell Cancer which is slow growing, but when the cells are repeatedly replaced like tissue that has to be replaced contunuosly in the body that rogue cell is small cell Cancer which can spread as those cells can make any tissue and are fast growing.

It dose not matter where the cell is it will just make tissue with all the blood cells and nerve endings.

I would like to know, Firstly...Why the trigger in the cell dose not turn off, Secondly... what part of the body sends the chemical to turn it off and Thirdly....how dose the body know when the injury is healed....and how dose the body see the Cancer...a foreign body or a virus or what ?

If no answer... could you direct me to a Website that would explain those things.

 

 

Thanks

 

Bill

Edited November 25, 2010 by Chriton

[Tatiana]

Hi Bill. I'm sorry to hear that you are unwell and I wish you the best of luck with it.

 

I'm afraid that I'm no cancer expert (A bit of a novice really) but I'll give you an answer as nobody else has so far. Apologies but I don't completely understand some of your sentences but I'll answer as best I can.

 

Cancer is uncontrolled growth of your own body cells, and it usually results from damage to the DNA, either via something like radiation, or a mistake during normal cell division.

Depending on which type of cell the cancer is originating from, it can be fast or slow spreading. I've not been able to find accurate information on how quickly lung cells regrow but I imagine it's quite regular which will increase the spread of the disease.

 

Firstly, the "trigger" in the cell does not "switch off" because the damage is done. The cell has gone from "normal division" to "increased division" because of the change to its DNA, and when it divides, the daughter cells have the same mistake in their DNA so they are also on "increased division" mode.

 

Cell division is normally controlled from within the cell, so I don't know what you mean by a signal to turn it off coming from the body. If you are talking about repair in response to damage, damaged cells release a signal saying "help I'm damaged!" so the body responds with cells from the immune system, and repair takes place in the damaged area. Once the damage is fixed and the body is no longer sending its "help" signal, the repair will cease. This is how the body should know that the injury is healed.

 

The body will probably not "see" the cancer at all because the cancerous cells are actually just your own cells, despite their uncontrolled growth I think the body still sees them as "self". This is why cancer (usually, as far as I know, at least) doesn't just "get better" by itself.

 

If you have any more questions, try a medical forum or Wikipedia, which might answer your question or provide useful further links.