What is cancer?

For many people cancer is a frightening word.  It is a word that we are all familiar with, but many of us don’t really know its meaning.  In the simplest terms cancer is a growth of abnormal cells somewhere in the body.  These growths, or tumours, can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). 

Benign tumours do not spread  to other parts of the body.

A malignant tumour is made up of cancer cells.  When it first develops, this tumour might also not spread beyond its original site.  But if the cells are not treated, they may spread into surrounding tissues, becoming invasive cancer. 

Some benign tumours are precancerous and progress to cancer if left untreated.  Other benign tumours do not develop into cancer at all.