Cancer begins at the cellular level. The human body is made up of trillions of cells that grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. However, when the genetic material (DNA) within a cell becomes damaged or mutated, it can result in the cell growing and dividing uncontrollably. This leads to the formation of a mass of tissue called a tumor. Not all tumors are cancerous; benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body, while malignant tumors can invade nearby tissues and metastasize to distant organs.
