This year thousands of people will die of cancer. Are you one of them?

The possibility of developing cancer is a frightening one yet it remains an unexplained curse in the modern world. Apparently, even our ancestors were not spared from this dreaded disease. Evidence of cancer has been found in dinosaur fossils and the Egyptians wrote about it in their papyrus scrolls. Greek surgeons under Hippocrates were also known to have studied it.

Today, while death rates for the four most common cancers (prostate, breast, lung, and colorectal) continue to decline, the incidence rates of cancer of the liver, pancreas, kidney, esophagus, and thyroid continue to rise. The same is true with childhood cancers, cancer of the brain and bladder, and testicular cancer in men, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Contrary to popular belief, cancer can be cured. While cancer remains a killer, a diagnosis of the disease does not necessarily mean a death sentence. Cancer can be stopped with early detection and treatment.

A large number of cancers, including those that strike the breast, cervix, colon, rectum, and prostate, are curable if you are aware of its symptoms and seek medical help fast - not from quacks but from reliable doctors who can save you from the disease. This series will tell you how to win the war against cancer.

Many people think of cancer as a single disease but that's far from the truth. In reality, the term "cancer" refers to a broad group of diseases in which certain body cells grow out of control.

The body contains billions of cells which perform various functions related to metabolism, excretion, and reproduction among others. These different cells are created through cell differentiation.

"Each normal cell has a specialized structure designed to do a particular job in a particular organ. For example, those cells which form the skin tend to be flat. The class of cells which make up the nervous system are long and slender. Within each class, all normal cells are quite uniform in size and almost identical in shape," said Marrion Morra, assistant director of the Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut, and Eve Potts in "Choices: Realistic Alternatives in Cancer Treatment."

Cell division is the process in which new cells are created to replace old, worn-out cells. Normal cells grow in an orderly, controlled manner, replacing old tissue and repairing injuries to keep the body healthy.

Cancer cells, however, behave differently. These abnormal cells do not actually grow faster than normal cells but they live longer and reproduce rapidly, eventually crowding out healthy cells in the tissue around them. Like normal cells, cancer cells also die but their death rate is lower than their birth rate.

"Cancer cells invade and destroy normal tissue. These cancer cells may remain at their original site (localized) or may invade distant or neighboring organs (metastasis or direct extension). If left untreated, cancer may spread throughout the body (advanced cancer stage) and usually results in death," said Drs. Adriano V. Laudico, Divina B. Esteban, Corazon A. Ngelangel, and Lilia M. Reyes in "Cancer Facts and Estimates." (Next: Oncogenes: The key to cancer?)

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