Cells are tiny and there are billions upon billions of then in our body. If cancer starts to form, how is it that in some cases, treatment can kill every single cell and cure a person of cancer? Isn’t leaving even one cancerous cell dangerous as it’ll multiply infinitely?
In: Biology
First point is that the human body has an amazing capacity to fight off things it considers foreign and that includes cancer. However with cancer, (as you say) the body sometimes cannot fight it off fast enough to stop it from spreading. Treatments for cancers are a means to slow down the cancerous growth, kill some of the cancer cells to the point where the immune system can take care of the rest. (simplistically put)
Many of the incurable diseases today are auto-immune disorders. This is where our own bodies go haywire on us and things that should not happen, do happen and the body does not recognize it as “wrong”. Without the body’s self repair system working, these kind of disorders are often chronic, progressive and ultimately fatal.
Latest Answers