Cancer (medicine), any of more than 100 diseases characterized by excessive, uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells, which invade and destroy other tissues. Cancer develops in almost any organ or tissue of the body, but certain types of cancer are more lethal than others. Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada and second only to heart disease in the United States.
Oncologists select from a number of options when treating cancer, depending on the type and stage of the tumor involved. The major treatments currently available are surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immunotherapy. Often, targeting cancerous tumors requires the artful combination of more than one type of cancer therapy.
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