ABSTRACT
The ten million cells constantly dividing in our bodies usually do so at the right time and at the right place. Occasionally, when things like radiation, viruses, or toxic chemicals disrupt normal genes, the substances that control cell growth become disorientated and cells, like buckets of water in the SORCERER'S APPRENTICE, keep multiplying interminably. Cancer cells have a great advantage over normal cells in the battle for survival. Whereas the latter grow old and die-off regularly, cancer cells persist until they kill the body that made them. Cancer, then, is the general name for a great variety of complex growths that differ in size, shape, origin, structure, and rates of spread. Each follows its own path of destruction and each responds to its own type of treatment.
