I know what a tumor is, but can someone explain what terminal cancer is and what is it about cancer that can kill/ cause permanent damage to your body?
In: Biology
It depends on the exact type of cancer. For some of them the cancer simply takes more nutrients than your body can supply and it causes the other parts of your body to die off. For some kinds of cancers as the tumor grows it will apply pressure and restrictions to various other parts of the body (such as the mother of a person I once knew whose tumor grew so large it sealed her esophagus causing her to choke to death, or a brain tumor which applies pressure on the parts of the brain which control vital functions.) Some cancers remain functional in their original purpose and cause overproduction of the function for their purpose, whereas others contain other mutations that can cause them to produce toxins. Lastly sometimes the immune system, in desparation to remove the cancers, may cease to recognize the difference between self and foreign bodies and may begin attacking the vital organs.
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