Cancer is one of the most dreaded illnesses that can affect mankind. It is a disease wherein a particular group of cells in the body exhibit uncontrolled growth, invasion, and metastasis sometimes. Uncontrolled growth occur when the cells divide beyond their normal limits; invasion when adjacent tissues are intruded and destructed; and metastasis means the spread out of the cancerous cells to the other areas in the body through blood or lymph.

Cancer can affect people from all ages and all walks of life. It attacks in varied types and different degrees. But more often than not, the risk of such frightening illness rises with age. As the American Cancer Society puts it, cancer causes approximately 13% of the total death tolls in the United States alone, and about 7.6 million people worldwide passed away due to cancer. Even animals get affected with this disease as well.

Almost all types of cancer are triggered by certain genetic material abnormalities, and these abnormalities can be possibly due to the effects of several carcinogens like chemicals, radiation, tobacco smoke, and other infectious agents. The other cancer-stimulating genetic aberrations may be acquired through certain errors in the DNA replication, or may be inherited; therefore, present in the cells since birth. Usually, cancer heritability is affected by some complex relations between the host genome and carcinogens.

In reality, many families are not able to eschew the horrors of having a family member suffer from cancer and all the agonies that come with the illness, from the pain of the disease itself to medications and treatments, such as chemotherapy. But apart from the physical pain is the emotional and mental battle that goes along with it, adding to the uncertainty of whether or not the person will survive the ordeal.

The most common question when it comes to battling with the illness is, when cancer strikes, is there hope? Well obviously, today is far different than yesterday. If such question is asked decades ago, perhaps the answer would be quite bleak and unpromising. But with the present days' advanced technology and impressing medical breakthroughs, one may get a good enough answer, though it holds no promises of certainty. Knowing there are modern ways and treatments available these days in dealing with cancer is enough hope for those who are not so lucky to acquire the disease.

Recently, with the available innovative researches and treatments for cancer patients, more and more are known to be cancer survivors, enlightening others who are still fighting with the disease. In fact, another new discovery was released for cancer patients, which discussed on the findings that in general, cancer-developing cells begin in bone marrow. With this information, scientists are looking forward to formulating new and better cancer treatments. Prelude studies were already done by Australian researches that were able to come up with positive results based on their tests conducted on mice. Prior studies pointed out only the theory that cancer-growing cells or fibroblasts commonly start in the bone marrow. This conjecture has only been verified in clinical studies just recently.

Though the above mentioned studies are still in their introductory stages, Dr. Daniel Worthley from Queensland Institute of Medical Research and Dr. Michael Michael from Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide were very hopeful that their research on the bone marrow transplant as a way of treating cancer patients will prove to be very helpful in providing alternatives in cancer treatment, regardless of the form and type of cancer. According to these doctors, the detection of where the fibroblast cells initiate is highly crucial in caring and healing cancer cells, at the same time, in identifying how the cells get infected as well as in determining how they grow and spread.

Tags & Keywords : health, cancer