World Cancer Day  observed everywhere on  Feb. 4. The campaign started in 2000. It aims to promote research to cure and prevent the disease, improve treatment, and raise awareness.

CANCER CASES IN INDIA

India sees rising  Cancer incidence and related deaths. The reasons includes  population growth, aging, lifestyle factors, sedentary way of living and delayed diagnosis. As per, ICMR NCCPR estimates, India recorded 8.7 lakh cancer deaths in 2024.

CAN CANCER BE PREVENTED 

A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) says that about 4 out of 10 cancers in India can be prevented.(3 FEB,2026)
 The report highlights that many cancer cases are linked to modifiable risk factors.
 In men, the cancers most avoidable are oral (mouth), lung and stomach cancers.
 Among women, the most preventable cancers are cancer of the cervix, breast and oral cavity.
 WHO says tobacco use, unhealthy diet, alcohol and infections contribute to many preventable cancers.
The report stresses that awareness and early detection are crucial to reduce cancer cases.

                   LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS
                   

                       CANCER

Cancer,  a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth. There are over 100 different types of cancer. Each  classified by the type of cell that  initially affected.

               Cancer harms the body when altered cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors (except in the case of leukemia where cancer prohibits normal blood function by abnormal cell division in the blood stream). 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  generally considered to be benign.

More dangerous, or malignant, tumors form when two things occur:

                    A cancerous cell manages to move throughout the body.  It uses the blood or lymphatic systems, destroying healthy tissue in a process called invasion-that cell manages to divide and grow, making new blood vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis.
                  When a tumor successfully spreads to other parts of the body and grows, invading and destroying other healthy tissues, it is said to have metastasized. This process itself  called metastasis, and the result is a serious condition that is very difficult to treat.
                    Normal cells in the body follow an orderly path of growth, division, and death. Programmed cell death  called apoptosis, and when this process breaks down, cancer begins to form. Unlike regular cells, cancer cells do not experience programmatic death and instead continue to grow and divide. This leads to a mass of abnormal cells that grows out of control.
                   Carcinogens are a class of substances that are directly responsible for damaging DNA, promoting or aiding cancer. Tobacco, asbestos, arsenic, radiation such as gamma and x-rays, the sun, and compounds in car exhaust fumes are all examples of carcinogens. When our bodies  exposed to carcinogens.  Free radicals formed to try to steal electrons from other molecules in the body. Theses free radicals damage cells and affect their ability to function normally.