• Question: Is cancer a new disease or has it been around for ages? how many people survive it?

    Asked by bieberrocksduh to Cathal, Daphne, Darren, Jon, Katherine on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Daphne Ng

      Daphne Ng answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Cancer has been around since multicellular organisms, including humans have been around. But it was only in the 17th century that doctors began finding ways to treat it.

      Cancer in the early stages is easier to cure than in the late stages. This is because at late stages, cancer cells may spread to other parts of the body. So chances of survival increase when the cancer is detected early.

    • Photo: Katherine Haxton

      Katherine Haxton answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      We see a lot more cases of cancer now because people are living longer. As cancer is caused by cells going wrong, there is more chance of that in older people. Still there are some cancers that only affect children and young people, and some cancers that might be caused by things like smoking, viruses and other chemicals that affect people of any age.

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