Cancer

A couple cycling on a country road.

An active lifestyle prevents cancer.

Cancer is a generic term for an entire group of diseases in which damaged cells become malignant and start to reproduce in the body.

Cancer is a fairly common disease. One in three Finns will get cancer at some point in their lives. The risk of cancer increases with age, which means that as the population ages, the number of new cancer cases will also inevitably increase. However, due to the better treatment possibilities, the number of cancer deaths is only slightly on the increase. A large share of cancer patients heal completely.

How does cancer originate?

The origin or development of cancer i.e. carcinogenesis through damage to the cell’s genotype which causes a call to become malignant. The change needed to make a cell malignant encompass a multi-step process. 

Certain genetic factors meaning genes guide the copying of genotypes, which takes place when cells divide. If this signal system stops working, the cell turns itself into a cancer cell that is reproduced endlessly. The body's regulatory mechanisms are no longer able to prevent cell reproduction and cancer cells begin to take over space for themselves.

The risk of cancer increases with age.

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