What Causes Cancer? | Surgery Tours India

Causes Of Cancer

Allow rapid growth. As cells grow and divide more rapidly, this creates many new cells that all have that same mutation.
Fail to stop uncontrolled cell growth. Normal cells know when to stop growing so that you have just the right number of each type of cell. Cancer cells lose control (tumor suppressor genes) that tell them when to stop growing. An alteration in a tumor suppressor gene allows cancer cells to continue growing.
Making mistakes when repairing DNA errors. DNA repair genes, look for errors in a cell's DNA and make required corrections. A mutation in a DNA repair gene may mean that other errors are not corrected, leading cells to become cancerous.

These mutations are the most common ones found in cancer. But many other gene mutations can contribute to causing cancer.

Gene mutations can occur for several reasons, for instance:

Gene mutations you are born with. You may be born with a genetic mutation that you have inherited from your parents. This type of mutation accounts for a small percentage of cancers.
Gene mutations that occur after birth. Most gene mutations occur after you are born and are not inherited. A number of forces can cause gene mutations, such as smoking, radiation, viruses, cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens), obesity, hormones, chronic inflammation and a lack of exercise.

The gene mutations you are born with and those that you acquire throughout your life, together cause cancer. If you have inherited a genetic mutation that predisposes you to cancer, that does not mean you are certain to get cancer. One or more, gene mutations combines to cause cancer. It is likely that this varies among cancer types. You are more likely to develop cancer when exposed to a certain cancer-causing substance.

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