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Our bodies are made up of millions of tiny cells. Our bodies are making new cells all the time. Most of the time these are healthy cells that help us to grow and to heal.
Sometimes, the body makes cells that aren’t normal. These are called cancer cells and they can make people sick. Often, they grow more quickly than normal cells.
Some cancers affect our blood cells. Others grow as a lump in our body called a tumour. Some tumours are benign, which means they usually do not grow or spread to other parts of the body, or do so very slowly. Other tumours are malignant, which means they can grow and spread.
Doctors don’t know what causes most cancers. We do know that in adults some things like smoking or too much sun can increase the chances of getting cancer.
Cancer in children is a big mystery. What we do know is that kids don’t do anything wrong to get cancer. And you definitely can’t catch cancer from someone else.
There are more than 100 types of cancer. Different cancers affect men, women and children. Many are named after the part of the body where the cancer cells grow; for example, stomach cancer or brain cancer.
Some cancers you might hear about are:
Different cancers are treated in different ways. Often people who have cancer will need to go to hospital for treatment. Sometimes people need more than one type of treatment.
Treatments include:
The Kids’ Guide to Cancer is a free app for children to learn all about cancer. It’s interactive and educational, and it provides answers to common questions about cancer.
You can download it on the Apple App Store or through Google Play. Ask an adult you trust if you need help.
For more age-appropriate information about cancer, download the free Kids’ Guide to Cancer app.
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