• Question: How do you get cancer?

    Asked by 🐀 I’m so happy on 5 Jun 2023. This question was also asked by maun487ugh, Sophia Ryan.
    • Photo: Ana Vitlic

      Ana Vitlic answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      There is a lot of factors that can lead to someone getting cancer and they are so varied and person specific too. Some are more straightforward than others, like being a carrier of specific gene for breast cancer, smoking for lung cancer (but not every smoker will get it), UV exposure (i.e. sun) for skin cancer (but again, not everyone who sunbathes without suncream will get it and so on).

    • Photo: Giampiero Valenzano

      Giampiero Valenzano answered on 7 Jun 2023: last edited 7 Jun 2023 3:11 pm

      Generally speaking you can get cancer because of two things: your genes (the same things that make you tall or short, blue-eyed or dark-eyed, etc.), and all that is around you (we scientist simply call this “environment”). The gene part is something that we are not able to do much about. Some people will have higher chances to develop cancer than others, in the same way that some people are tall and some people are short. The environment part is something that we can, on the other hand, very much control. For example by not smoking, avoid drinking too much, wearing sunscreen when exposed to the sun, eating lots of fruits and veggies and exercising/working out.

    • Photo: Jen Antrobus

      Jen Antrobus answered on 8 Jun 2023:

      You get cancer because some of the cells in your body start to grow uncontrollably. This happens because of changes in DNA, which is the genetic material in every cell of your body. These changes can be in your cells from birth, or they can be caused by factors in the environment, like smoking.

    • Photo: Mungo Harvey

      Mungo Harvey answered on 12 Jun 2023:

      Cancer is very complex and the reasons we get cancer can vary depending from person to person. There are two general reasons why this can occur one reason is down to your genes, which are coded by your DNA, and these can mutate (or change) which can result in some cells being able to grow uncontrollably and overcome your natural defences against cancer. Mutations happen a lot in nature and have made us who we are today too, as cancer cells gain an advantage to survive organisms can develop traits which help them survive and evolve too.
      Another reason we can develop cancer is due to our environment or what we are exposed too. Some environments can help cancer develop such as smoking, UV radiation from the sun and poor health and diet.
      We can’t control our genes as that’s what we are born with but there are some things we can control, to some extent (our environment), which is why it’s always important to look after yourself by doing things like regular exercise, avoid smoking and wearing sun cream.

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