he internet was recently flooded with
a medical claim that is scaring the public. Circulating in the email world is
the statement that says "normally, we all have dormant cancer cells in our
body." Implied is the assertion that all healthy people are walking around with
a time bomb within them, ready to explode.
This senseless and unkind fabrication is obviously the work
of someone with an ignorant, or confused, if not twisted, mind.
The healthy person does not carry any cancer cell in his
body, period. If every tissue in the body of a normal person is biopsied, or if
a person who dies of any non-cancerous disease, like heart attack or stroke, or
trauma, is autopsied from head to foot, no cancer cells will be found. The only
exception to this is if the person had an undiagnosed cancer, which is
incidentally found on autopsy, a finding that excludes this person from being
healthy in the first place.
Therefore, all healthy individuals, from birth to adulthood
to their death, do not normally carry, or have, any cancer cells in their body,
unless they develop a malignancy. If they abuse themselves and subject their
body to carcinogens, substances or toxins that cause cancers, then the tissues
of the organs involved (like the lungs among smokers, the esophagus or food
pipe, and the liver, among alcoholics) could be so irritated and damaged by the
toxic agent for the cells of those tissues to change into cancer cells.
The normal cells our body came with when we were born have a
pre-determined growth pattern and final adult size, from infancy to adulthood.
As the cells, tissues and organs attain their normal number and size, the cell
growth ceases at the right time. That is why our organs, our body as a whole,
have the average sizes and shapes, according to our genetic make-up. There is no
run-away, uncontrolled, growth in cases of normal cells. Muscle cells are
greater in mass and stronger among those who exercise daily, especially among
body builders. Fat cells increase in number and size when we overeat and become
overweight. But even these "growths" are still within the expected "norm."
From time to time, as our activities and lifestyle "damage,"
our cells, as a result of the wear and tear in our body, our older cells
(including blood cells) die and are replaced by new cells efficiently and
automatically. An example of this is our dead skin, which flakes off, to be
replaced instantly by new skin. Worn-out or dead cells in a normal body are
constantly replaced with new ones almost every day. But all this happens in an
organized, systematic, orderly, and "disciplined" process. Our body system’s
self-protective and auto-control mechanisms are always in control maintaining
our health. If we do something that will adversely alter this natural internal
balance and harmony, then disease sets in.
Cancer cells are something else. They grow and divide with
blatant disregard for the body’s needs and limitations. They do not stop
reproducing. There is random multiplication and replication that is out of
bounds, without order and direction. These cells become very aggressive,
attacking tissues and organs nearby, as in malignant tumors, where in many cases
even spread to, and destroy, distant organs (like in cancer of the lungs with
metastases to the brains, bones, adrenals, etc).
Unless cancer cells are treated effectively to induce cure or
remission when they first form, they are unstoppable in their growth and
aggressiveness. This behavior and characteristic of cancer cells alone is
self-evident proof that normal healthy bodies do not have what is claimed as
"dormant cancer cells." If any cancer cell forms in a person’s body, it will
continue to grow and multiply unceasingly and be clinically obvious in a matter
of weeks or months in almost all cases.
Normal (non-cancerous) cells have a regulated,
well-controlled, cell division and growth, thanks to the genes that produce
proteins that provide such auto-regulation and control. These are the proto-oncogenes
and tumor-suppressor genes, which regulate the cell cycle and keep the cells in
good control. Tumor-suppressor genes produce proteins that prevent the
uncontrolled cell growth and abnormal cell division.
When the cells are constantly exposed to cancer-causing
agents (either toxic substances, chemicals in food or drinks, excess sunlight,
radiation, etc.), the body produces abnormal proteins called oncogenes which
cause the cells to lose their ability to control their regulation. The
non-regulated cells then go wild and divide abnormally fast, uncontrolled,
transforming the cells into cancer cells that lose their original
characteristics and functions (like cancerous lungs tissues turning into a solid
mass, losing their air-cells and ability to oxygenate blood). The uncontrolled
growth and replication of the cancer cells lead to large space-occupying masses
in the body, crowding out other organs and pressing on vitals blood vessels and
nerves. The most adverse outcome of this malignant process is the transformation
of the cancerous organ into a useless hard mass of tissues and the loss of
original function of the organ, as in cancer of the lungs, liver, kidney, brain,
breast, prostate, etc.
Normal, healthy, persons do not have cancer cells in their
body. That includes the general population at large. Only individuals with a
cancerous disease have cancer cells in them.
Knowing how deadly cancers can be, it behooves all of us to live a healthy
lifestyle, and to be knowledgeable and keenly aware that cancer is best
prevented. And if it still occurs, in spite of our diligence and discipline, it
is best diagnosed early. A regular medical check-up is a prudent prophylactic
health strategy in our fight against diseases, especially against cancer.