The big C or Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth.
When damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors it undoubtedly harms the body. Tumors can grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems, and they can release hormones that alter body function.
Tumors that stay in one spot and demonstrate limited growth are generally considered to be benign. More dangerous, or malignant, tumors form when a cancerous cell manages to move throughout the body using the blood or lymph systems, destroying healthy tissue in a process called invasion and when that cell manages to divide and grow, making new blood vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis.