DELHI STATE CANCER INSTITUTES 
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Cancer is an uncontrolled, irregular and abnormal growth of cells from any part or organ system of the body, stimulated through some possibly known &/or any other hitherto unknown factors, which continues even after the initiating stimulus, whatsoever, has been withdrawn.
These abnormal cancer cells have a tendency to infiltrate into the adjoining normal tissues and to invade into the draining lymphatics as well as into the blood vessels - resulting in regional & systemic spread of the disease (called as metastasis) to organs like lungs, liver, brain & bones etc. , ultimately leading to death of the patient, if left untreated.
No. Cancer also seems to be as old a disease as the mankind itself.
In our old scriptures, the disease has been mentioned in the name of "Kark Rog", which in modern days is now called as 'Cancer'.
Cancer is a manifestation of abnormality in the growth control mechanism of cells.
The life of any individual starts from just a single cell at the time of fertilisation. This single cell divides into billions & billions of cells to develop into the complete physical, physiological & intellectual human being. These cell divisions keep occurring in our body in a well programmed & well controlled manner, throughout the life, depending upon the physiology, functional requirements and other needs of the given tissue or the organ.
But .. Partly due to our own life style & habits and partly due to some unknown natural causes (external or internal), there is always a probability of developing an anomaly in any of these very well controlled & programmed cell division. About one-third of all cancers are related with the tobacco habits and about one-third with one's life style.
The probability for any of these division getting abnormal keeps getting higher & higher with advancing age - especially in cells that have a rapid turn over cycle.
Cancer can occur at any age - right from a new born to old age. However, more & more number of patients are seen with advancing age especially after 35 years of age. 86% of cancer patients in our country develop after 35 years of age while only 14% of patients develop before 35 years of age.
Distribution of cancer cases as per age groups of below & above 35 years(on the basis of 1981 census data )
| Age Groups | Population Proportion (%) | Cancer Cases |
|---|---|---|
| 35 years | 72 (%) | 14 |
| > 35 years | 28 (%) | 86 |
Some possible causes for cancers...
- Life style & habits related (2/3rds )...
- Tobacco, Pan Masala etc. in any form -1/3rd of cases
- Low residue or Fiber-less diet, malnutrition, spicy, pickled or roasted foods etc. -1/3rd of cases
- Early marriage, early sexual exposure
- Multiple pregnancies, unsupervised deliveries
- Alcohol - especially alongwith tobacco
- Poor personal hygiene, STDs
Some other possible causes for cancer ..
- Atmospheric/cosmic radiations/UV rays
- Occupational factors
- Onco-virus
- Hormones, certain drugs & chemicals, environmental pollution
- Genetically linked
- Unknown cause - ?advancing age
- A few types of cancers may be seen more often In some families due to various life style, hereditary or genetic reasons, e.g.: Colon cancer due to common dietary habits in the family or due to familial polyposis.
- Breast cancer in mother, sister due to hereditary reasons.
- Some cancers may be linked to certain genetic causes due to presence or absence of certain oncogenes: BRCA, Rb1, p53, c-myc, Her, EGFR. Albino, AT, Bloom/Fanconi Syndromes etc.
No, cancer is not contagious or infectious disease. Sharing meals, sleeping, drinking or eating etc. with any cancer patient, does not spread disease to others.
- Yes, there is both relative and absolute increase in the number of cancer cases seen in our country. However, this rate is still less than that seen in the developed countries.
- Annual incidence of new cancer cases in our country is about 100/100,000 population, at present
- In most of the developed countries this varies from 300-400/100,000 p.a.