Cancer is a condition that occurs when the cells in the body start to grow or change into abnormal cells. Normal cells grow, divide, and die. But cancer cells continue to grow and divide—without dying. Worse, they replicate and grow more abnormal cells. Cancer usually begins as a tumor. Cancer may travel, which is known as metastasis. This can affect different parts of the body, including once-healthy tissue.

According to the American Cancer Society, “Cancer cells develop because of damage to DNA...People can inherit damaged DNA, which accounts for inherited cancers. Many times though, a person’s DNA becomes damaged by exposure to something in the environment, like smoking.”

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer is sometimes caused by a person’s lifestyle. For example, smoking is known to cause lung, mouth, throat, bladder, and kidney cancer—not to mention diseases of the heart and stroke.

For more specific information, go to Cancer.com

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