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cancer

Art:For further information about specific types of cancer, click on a corresponding label.
For further information about specific types of cancer, click on a corresponding label.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

group of more than 100 distinct diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer affects one in every three persons born in developed countries and is a major cause of sickness and death throughout the world. Though it has been known since antiquity, significant improvements in cancer treatment have been made since the middle of the 20th century, mainly through a combination of timely and accurate diagnosis, selective surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapeutic drugs. Such advances actually have brought about a decrease in cancer deaths (at least in developed countries), and grounds for further optimism are seen in laboratory investigations into elucidating the causes and mechanisms of the disease. Owing to continuing advances in cell biology, genetics, and biotechnology, researchers now have a fundamental understanding of what goes wrong in a cancer cell and in an individual who develops cancer—and these conceptual gains are steadily being converted into further progress in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease.

This article covers the complex subject of cancer in several sections. The first section, Types of cancer, reviews the major cancer types according to their pattern of growth, site of origin, and other characteristics. Links are provided from diagrams and tables in this section to more detailed entries on specific cancers. Subsequent sections describe the growth and spread of cancerous tumours, their effects on the individual, and methods of diagnosing and treating them. The section Causes of cancer provides a detailed examination of the molecular basis of the disease, the principal cancer-causing agents, and hereditary factors involved in cancer development. Finally, Milestones in cancer science provides a brief overview of cancer science throughout history.

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