How do you get cancer and why is it always the nicest people?

[atlien seeko]

Has to be incredibly humbling...

 

[djmano34]

truth is it happens to good and bad people but when it happens to nice people thats when youll hear
that saying because it has an image...

things happen because of coincidence. there is no such thing as miracles.
"miracles" occur because there is always a chance of something wether it be 35% or .000000001%

life might be just a coincidence...

 

[qualmes]

My homegirl beat ovarian cancer

...sucks she cant have babies though

 

[devildog1776]

Cancer sucks..... This world we live in can be sooo beautiful and disgusting at the same time... I never had anyone in my family diagnosed with it but I know people that lost good people to it and it's so frustrating knowing you can't do a damn thing about it...

 

[nawth21]

We are long lived multicelled organisms. We're designed to get cancer. It's a trade off. And cancer will never be cured, this coming from my oncologist professor. They're starting to focus on life extension and quality improvement. Of course, not all cancer is the same so some is treatable and "curable". But cancer as a whole? Never.

 

[antonlavey]

Originally Posted by BallRN23

OK. I'm not trying to have a bunch of arguments on NT so as long as we're all mature it's all good. IMO, our cells (in the vast majority of people) are genetically equipped for healthy function.

It is MAINLY due to lifestyle/environment, there is a genetic component to it but not everyone with that gene will get the cancer. In other words, you are NOT doomed by your genetics. Look into epigenetics. How the expression of your genes is affected by environment is huge! What is happening now that we exercise less, eat more crap, pollute our environment more? More cancer, heart disease, stroke, metabolic and inflammatory conditions, etc. What are the top killers in society? Are they preventable and mainly associated with lifestyle? We are born to express health, if given the raw ingredients that are needed.

To the dude that had cancer at 18 months....first off, I'm glad you are here today to express your opinions. Secondly, there is no way that you can say environment was not a possible cause. For example, what you ate, what your mom ate, vaccinations, other stressors, etc. Come on, you can't really tell me that environment was not a factor, or how much of a factor it was vs genetics. Which one was more of a factor, genes or environment? Nobody really knows. I realize what I said, and maybe I should have prefaced it with "for the majority of people"....but oh well. How much do we really know?? Not much.

Anton, "Not all women who inherit a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will develop breast or ovarian cancer. " And, "According to estimates of lifetime risk, about 12.0 percent of women (120 out of 1,000) in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives compared with about 60 percent of women (600 out of 1,000) who have inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (4, 5). " These come straight from http://www.cancer.gov/can...ics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA.

So if 60% of people with the mutation(s) get breast cancer, there is 40% who don't. What would explain this? Environment could. What happened to the 12% of women who got breast cancer without inheriting the mutation(s)? The question is, could environment affect gene expression to help cause the mutations that you posted about? I think so.

And straight from the ACS: "But most breast cancer DNA changes happen in single breast cells during a woman's life rather than having been inherited. " http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_2X_What_causes_breast_cancer_5.asp.

To me, genes = cause of all problems is just dogma. Sure, there is a genetic component, but people don't acknowledge how much of a role environment plays. Hence, my "It is not genetics, it is lifestyle" reply. So IMO, yes BOTH genes and environment play a role, but for most people: healthy environment ----> healthy gene expression.

CALM DOWN BRO, I WAS ARGUING AGAINST YOUR ASSERTION THAT CANCER DOES NOT HAVE A GENETIC COMPONENT WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE. I have already stated in this thread that everything causes cancer.


Cancer is due to both environmental and genetic factors, I'm not arguing that with you. Some cancers are heavily genetically determined, others are more environmental.......some are somewhere in the middle.

You said cancer is NOT genetic.....I gave you examples of where it can be. I didn't say it couldn't be environmental.


Cancer is a lot more complicated than you're making it out to be. Some cancers develop through many independent random genetic mutations due to carcinogens (environmental)......your genes also determine your ability to detect and eliminate these genetically aberrant cells (Rb gene).


P.S. Not everyone exposed to these environmental factors gets cancer.

 

[T0INE]

Cancer doesn't discriminate.

My mother had breast cancer and beat it.

 My uncle beat cancer once, but he didn't win the second round.

 

[clevelandsprince23]

One of my buddies mom has Lou Gehrigs disease 

One of the nicest people in the world too.  OP....I don't know man...the nicest and sweetest people seem to go quickly and tragically...

sucks 

 

[freakazoid]

My grandmother had cancer. I was devastated; she raise me and all whenever my mom wasn't around. Till this day I think about her all time.

 

[cincoseisdos]

Originally Posted by Its That Dude

God did it. really. he did it. blame that $!%+$%%@*%+#. son of a %*!##.

 

[ballrn23]

Originally Posted by whiterails

So despite the fact that if you carry the BRCA mutation you have a 60% chance of getting cancer, compared to 
a 12% chance if you don't, you're still going to say that it's primarily your environment that determines it?  

Yes.  Because IMO, the mutation was probably caused by environmental factors not "random chance".  I don't think the body determines it should screw up for no apparent reason.  Hence the importance of environment.  We can agree to disagree...IMO, BOTH genes and environment play a role, but for most people: healthy environment ----> healthy gene expression.

CALM DOWN BRO
Are you serious?  When was I mad? 

Cancer is due to both environmental and genetic factors, I'm not arguing that with you. Some cancers are heavily genetically determined, others are more environmental.......some are somewhere in the middle.

You said cancer is NOT genetic.....I gave you examples of where it can be. I didn't say it couldn't be environmental.

Sure, there is a genetic component, but people don't acknowledge how much of a role environment plays. Hence, my "It is not genetics, it is lifestyle" reply. So IMO, yes BOTH genes and environment play a role, but for most people: healthy environment ----> healthy gene expression.

How do you know which ones are more environment vs genetic?  I know you're not arguing with me that environment plays a role, but your examples for gene-based may have equally shown that the environment caused those mutations.  I'm just trying to get you to see that.  No animosity, no anger.  Just presenting a different point of view. 

Also, I'm more inclined to think that proper functioning of your immune system is responsible for finding and destroying cancerous cells no?  And, you're right...not everyone exposed to environmental factors gets cancer.  But not everyone is exposed to the same factors, there IS a genetic components to it (contrary to my first reply

), and not everyone is equally as healthy as each other.  Too many variables to use that line.  I'm just trying to make people see my point that environment plays an enormous role (probably more so than genes), if you disagree that's fine.  I'm more glad that we're all civilized in disagreeing. 

 

[antonlavey]

Originally Posted by BallRN23

Originally Posted by whiterails

So despite the fact that if you carry the BRCA mutation you have a 60% chance of getting cancer, compared to 
a 12% chance if you don't, you're still going to say that it's primarily your environment that determines it?  

Yes.  Because IMO, the mutation was probably caused by environmental factors not "random chance".  I don't think the body determines it should screw up for no apparent reason.  Hence the importance of environment.  We can agree to disagree...IMO, BOTH genes and environment play a role, but for most people: healthy environment ----> healthy gene expression.

CALM DOWN BRO

Are you serious?  When was I mad? 

Cancer is due to both environmental and genetic factors, I'm not arguing that with you. Some cancers are heavily genetically determined, others are more environmental.......some are somewhere in the middle.

You said cancer is NOT genetic.....I gave you examples of where it can be. I didn't say it couldn't be environmental.

Sure, there is a genetic component, but people don't acknowledge how much of a role environment plays. Hence, my "It is not genetics, it is lifestyle" reply. So IMO, yes BOTH genes and environment play a role, but for most people: healthy environment ----> healthy gene expression.

How do you know which ones are more environment vs genetic?  I know you're not arguing with me that environment plays a role, but your examples for gene-based may have equally shown that the environment caused those mutations.  I'm just trying to get you to see that.  No animosity, no anger.  Just presenting a different point of view. 

Also, I'm more inclined to think that proper functioning of your immune system is responsible for finding and destroying cancerous cells no?  And, you're right...not everyone exposed to environmental factors gets cancer.  But not everyone is exposed to the same factors, there IS a genetic components to it (contrary to my first reply

), and not everyone is equally as healthy as each other.  Too many variables to use that line.  I'm just trying to make people see my point that environment plays an enormous role (probably more so than genes), if you disagree that's fine.  I'm more glad that we're all civilized in disagreeing. 





Cancer is the result of a defect with the check-point system of the cell cycle. The proteins involved in these check-points eg. The retinoblastoma gene are prone to mutations, inherited or otherwise..causing uncontrolled cell-division. Environmental factors may lead to these mutations, but genetic pre-disposition is an important determining factor in many cancers....HENCE DOCTORS SCREENING WOMEN FOR BRCA1.





Your original statement said cancer is NOT genetic and strictly environmental.....that is what I argued against.

Cancer isn't genetic in the simple mendelian fashion as you have the gene, you get the disease...it is more complex than that. Genetics and the environment don't DETERMINE cancer, put they pre-dispose and increase the likelihood of getting it.

I hope that clears things up.

 

[badmoonrison]

My cousin died of it this summer. He found out when his knee was really bothering him, he thought he was sore from an old high school football injury (tore his ACL) but it turned out to be cancer. It spread to his lungs and killed him within 9 months.

The worst part was that he was only 32 years old and he just got engaged. He was a successful accountant in Chicago. His fiancé tried to say the vows with him before he died, but he was unconscious

We were all at our summer cabin when we heard, we dropped everything and a large group went down to Chicago to try to be with him... he never woke up

only time I've seen my Dad cry. I have to stop typing now or I'll tear up, I can't even think about it to this day without crying a little

Originally Posted by saint lt

my dad passed away from cancer last thursday, it is a terrible thing. especially to see someone you know and love suffer.

stay strong.... I can't imagine