Question: How does cancer take control of the body? Why does it do this?

Dawn Gillies answered on 8 Nov 2016:

Cancer is made up of a group of cancerous cells that are growing differently to normal cells. This is what makes up a tumor (although not all tumors are cancer).
The cancer cells have some very special features that mean that the tumor can grow and some cells can move away from the original tumor to different parts of the body. This is the point where cancer gets really difficult for doctors to treat. Your body would normally kill off cells is doesn’t need or cells that aren’t working properly but cancer cells are able to avoid this.
These cells that move away grow into a new tumor. This can happen a lot of times, and sometimes can stop your body functioning properly by blocking vital organs that you need to survive.
There are a lot of different types of cancer, but staying healthy – exercise, healthy food, and avoiding smoking – massively reduces your chance of getting cancer.