In today’s fast paced world, it has become common to hear about many different, and sometimes scary, types of diseases that show their heads every now and then. AIDS was unheard of until around 20 years ago, and now suddenly it is the biggest epidemic to hit humans in today’s world. Similarly, another disease to become widespread recently is cancer. Although also a daunting disease to be affected with, researchers have been trying to find cures for many different kinds of cancers and have had many a great breakthrough. But to this day there are no specific reasons that cane be named to cause cancer. There are many risk factors involved which are said to increase the chances of causing cancer, like use of tobacco, some pollutants found in the environment or types of radiation, but those exposed to any of these risk factors may still not develop cancers. It all seems to be left to chance. What is cancer? All living cells in our body go through a cyclic process of being made (born), living and then finally dying. These dead cells are then removed from our body through various mechanisms that take place in our body. For some people however, for no known reasons as yet, the ‘reproduction’ of these new cells takes place at a faster rate. This means that while there are already healthy, living cells more and more keep adding on. These cells take on irregular shapes and form a mass which have no function. This mass of cells is called a tumor, which if malignant (i.e. harmful) is then termed cancer. Depending on which area of the body these tumors form, the cancer is named differently. For example, if found in lungs it is called lung cancer, and if in the bone, then bone cancer. Cancer can remain in the same area it formed, but there are malignant tumors that can spread to other parts of the body. This happens when the cancer cells break free from the mass and move to other parts of the body. There are various types of treatments used to cure cancer. Surgery is used on some tumors to remove them from the body, but when a mass cannot be separated by surgery, treatments like radiation therapy or chemotherapy are used to kill the cancer cells. Having cancer can be a terrifying experience, but it does not mean the end of the road for anyone. Getting proper treatment, eating the right kinds of food, making small changes in your lifestyle, and most importantly, ALWAYS being positive are the best ways to make sure you enjoy life for many more years to come!