Cancer

Biology of Cancer

Cancer terms an enormous spectrum of diseases that all instigate from uncontrolled cellular growth. Broadly allocated into benign tumors (unable to metastasize) or malignant tumors (able to invade normal tissues), cancers are further defined and classified by their cell type, tissue, or organ of origin. Cancer remains the number two cause of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease, and the Intramural Research Program (IRP) is dedicated to proceeding research, building expertise, and leveraging resources to address this global challenge. Our scientists are continually learning more about the sources of cancer, and emerging new and better ways to prevent, detect, and treat it.

Normal cells make up tissues, and when these cells lose their capability to behave as a specified, controlled and coordinated unit (dedifferentiation) the defect leads to disarray amongst the cell population. When this occurs, a tumor is formed. Cancer is a term recitation a large variety of disorders of proliferation. The specific disorder may differ from tissue type to tissue type. A single tumor may even have dissimilar populations of cells within it with differing procedures that have gone awry.