Cancer begins when something goes wrong with cell growth. Some cells begin making more copies of themselves than are needed. These cells grow out of control and take over healthy cells.

No.

Cancer is a group of more than 100 different diseases. Most cancers get named after the place in the body where the cells begin to grow out of control. For example, when cells grow out of control in the colon, it is called colon cancer.

Cancer can happen to men, women, and children of any age, ethnic background, or social group. However, there is much information about what you can do to lower your risk for cancer.

A risk factor is something that makes you more likely than someone else to get a disease. For example, a person may be more likely to get cancer or heart disease if he or she smokes or eats many high fat foods.

There are many things you can do to help prevent cancer. For example, you can eat a healthy diet and get cancer screenings to find cancer early. Certain lifestyle habits, like not smoking and getting a check-up every year can also help to avoid cancer.

Cancer screening is a group of several, simple tests that can help to find cancer early, long before any symptoms appear. You may have heard of some cancer screenings, such as the mammogram, Pap smear, rectal exam, PSA test and prostate exam. Finding cancer early can save your life.