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?

Question

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

Answer 1

Those things damage your DNA. Your DNA is an instruction set on how to build cells.

If the right bits of DNA are damaged, then your body will read the wrong instructions and build heaps of useless cells, and that is called Cancer