Cancer... how does it work exactly?

I was reading somewhere that cancer is essentially an anamoly of cells. They mass-grow and take over other sells, and don't stop until the entire organ is taken over. Furthermore, they are also likely to encrouch onto other organs. This is sort of just what I know from the top of my head, and what I heard in school a while back.

For those of you who know how cancer acts, could you please draw a picture or something depicting how it looks.

I'm curious, seeing as it's like the most feared disease.

There's some wonderful diagrams and pictures on Cancer's page on Wikipedia.FragStains

*digs up notes on cancer*

Never mind they are on my other computer.

essentially it involves multiple mutations in a cell which cause it to replicate uncontrollably. It does not undergo apoptosis (controlled cell death) due to a mutation in a certain gene. The cells use up the bodies resources spreading and out competing other tissues. Cancer cells do not have a proper organisation or cell structure.

There is alot more to it than that but that is the gist of it.

[QUOTE="FragStains"]There's some wonderful diagrams and pictures on Cancer's page on Wikipedia.Mehdi1984

Something like 95% of all cells are supposed to die within 6 hours of being made, while the other 5% undergoes mitosis to create 2 more cells. When one cell reproduces when it's not supposed to, it'll turn into a tumor eventually. It can happen to anyone at anytime, and I Hate to scare you, but virtguRyuHayabusaX

Damn, why does this stuff have to happen? I thought God loved us all. :?

Basically, normal cells aren't supposed to reproduce uncontrollably. That information has gotten messed up in cancerous cells, so they end up doing just that.GabuEx