Cancer is a story of good cells going bad.

Think of the body as a ship so big it's like a floating city. The areas of the ship-- like the bridge and the galley and the brig-- are like the organs of the body—the brain, the liver and the kidneys. They are physical places that house the equipment to do certain jobs.

The cells of the body are like the people on the ship. Just as every worker on a well-run the ship knows and obeys the rules, so, too, healthy cells have a job to do. Think of a well-run galley. At any time, there are a given number of cooks in the galley; so, too, there are a given number of cells that line the air sacs of the lung or the ducts of a breast or the walls in the colon. Just as the cooks coordinate with the other cooks and wait staff, so, too, the cells work together. Just as one cook may work a 12-hour shift and another works an 8-hour shift, so, too, cells live different amounts of time. Breast cells live about 100 days; you've had many of your brainy cells since birth. Just as the cook stays in the kitchen, so, too liver cells stay in the liver.

If you ran into someone on the ship, chances are good you could identify what they do based on their dress, their location and their activity. Similarly, a pathologist can often look at a slide and tell whether the cells are from the heart or the stomach or the adrenal. Even though all cells of the body have the exact same chromosomes, the cells look different, perform different jobs and live different amount of time before dividing.

While most people on the boat are good citizens, there are some that will break the rules. It's possible the ship employs hardened criminals. Imagine a Bernie Madoff as the head accountant.

Cancer cells are like the body's hardened criminals roaming free about the body doing their damage.

Just as there are many reasons that good citizens become hardened criminals, so, too there are many reasons healthy cells become cancerous cells. Toxins, like cigarette smoke, viral illnesses like hepatitis and exposure to radiation are all reasons. Dividing cells are vulnerable to these changes.

Criminals will tell you that his crimes escalated over time. The changes that lead to cancer happen occur during the phase of cell division. It may take many cell divisions before a healthy colon cell makes the transition to a colon cancer cell. A colon cancer cell does not look or behave like a healthy colon cell; it divides whenever it wants, lives however long it wants and goes anywhere in the body it wants. Colon cancer cells are known to take up housekeeping in the liver, the brain and the bones. The cancer does its damage not in the organ in starts, but rather its ability to do systemic damage.

With a hundred trillion cells in the human body, and most regularly dividing, why doesn't everyone have cancer? The immune system, like the police, remove elements before they can do more damage. Some criminals, like Bernie Madoff, elude detection.

The current trend in cancer treatment is figuring out ways to kill cancer cells. Maybe an alternative approach is to figure our how to strengthen the body's innate system that keeps most of us free of cancer.

 

Want more information about how to care for loved ones?  And manage stress, minimize guilt and avoid burnout as a family caregiver?   Visit  www.thecaregiverclub.com The founder, Vicki Rackner MD , is a former surgeon, speaker and author