if cancer is basically a clump of cells that dont want to die, why/how do things like cigarettes, asbestos, and the literal sun trigger it?
In: Biology
Imagine you are told a long paragraph (it’s simple enough to remember but there exists no copy of it, written or otherwise) and I task you with writing down, over and over again. Each time you write it, the previous write ups cease to exist. You basically just keep writing. How much would you be willing to bet that after a year, the paragraph you write will be the exact same as the initial one given (ie exact word placement [frameshift mutations], properly spelled [nonsense/missense/silent mutation], etc)?
When a cell replicates, that’s basically what happens. The cell divides based off the DNA framework of the parental cell. The downstream effect are felt when the cell has to divide over and over and over again (DNApol has copy error rates). So after hundreds/thousands of replications, you begin getting accumulations of “cancer-like” cell health profiles.
So back to your original question. Certain things cause cells to die, and your body tends to have a homeostasis (basically a point of balance) drive to have certain cells in certain places. So when you take in some of these chemicals that kill cells, you are basically encouraging your body to divide cells in the affected regions (lungs for cigarettes, skin for sun, wiping to hard to colorectal, etc.), thus you are encouraging replication errors to occur more often than let’s say someone who does not do those behaviors.
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