• Question: how can cancer kill you?

    Asked by madeleineh to Jen, Jill, Mel, Phil, Stef on 14 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Melissa Brereton

      Melissa Brereton answered on 14 Mar 2013:

      Cancer is dangerous because as it grows it develops its own blood supply and so it can survive and start to kill the healthy cells around it. Once it takes over one organ and stops it from working properly, it starts to spread to other parts of the body via your blood and the whole process starts again!

    • Photo: Stefan Piatek

      Stefan Piatek answered on 16 Mar 2013:

      Melissa pretty much nailed it, it’s not the first cancer that kills you generally, it’s when it spreads. The main problem is that it starts taking up space in your body or starts growing in an area that needs to be perfectly arranged. It also drains away all of the oxygen and food from the normal cells around it, which means that they start dying off.

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