Head and Neck Cancer

What is Cancer?
Cancer is a disease that begins in cells.  The body is made up of millions of cells, grouped together to form tissues, such as those found in the heart, the lungs, muscles and bones.
The genes inside each cell of the body grow, work, reproduce and die in an orderly way and at a controlled rate.

Cancer happens when some of the cells become abnormal and grow at an uncontrolled rate. After a while groups of abnormal cells grow together to form a lump called a tumour.

Tumours can be benign (non-cancer) or malignant (cancer). Benign tumours stay in one place in the body and is not usually life threatening.  However, malignant tumours can invade the area around normal tissues or even spread to other parts of the body.

Cancerous cells that spread to other parts of the body are called metastases.
 
Cancers are named after the part of the body where they start.  For example, cancer that starts in the lip but spreads to the jaw is called lip cancer with metastases to the jaw.

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