Cancer is the general name for a group of more than 100 diseases in which cells in a part of the body begin to grow out of control. Although there are many kinds of cancer, they all start because abnormal cells grow out of control. Untreated cancers can cause serious illness and even death. Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. During the early years of a person's life, normal cells divide more quickly until the person becomes an adult. After that, cells in most parts of the body divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells and to repair injuries. Cancer cells develop because of damage to DNA. This substance is in every cell and directs all of the cell's activities. Most of the time when DNA becomes damaged, either the cell dies or is able to repair the DNA.

In cancer cells, the damaged DNA is not repaired. People can inherit damaged DNA, which accounts for inherited cancers. Many times though, a person’s DNA gets damaged by things in the environment, like, chemicals, viruses, tobacco smoke or too much sunlight. Cancers can begin in many different parts of the body. But, different types of cancer can act very differently. For example, lung cancer and breast cancer are very different diseases. They grow at different rates and respond to different treatments. That's why people with cancer need treatment that is aimed at their particular kind of cancer. Because cancer cells keep growing and dividing, they are different from normal cells. Instead of dying, they outlive normal cells and continue to grow and make new abnormal cells. Cancer usually forms as a tumor (a lump or mass.) Some cancers, like leukemia, do not form tumors. Instead, these cancer cells involve the blood and blood-forming organs, and circulate through other tissues where they grow. Cancer cells often travel through the bloodstream or through the lymph system to other parts of the body where they begin to grow and replace normal tissue.

This spreading process is called metastasis. Even when cancer has spread to a different part of the body it is still named for the place in the body where it started. For example, breast cancer that has spread to the liver is metastatic breast cancer, not liver cancer. Prostate cancer that has spread to the bone is called metastatic prostate cancer, not bone cancer. Remember that not all tumors are cancerous. Benign (non-cancerous) tumors do not spread to other parts of the body (metastasize) and are very rarely life-threatening. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have had cancer. The risk of developing most types of cancer can be reduced by changes in a person's lifestyle, for example, by quitting smoking, limiting time in the sun, being physically active, and eating a better diet. The sooner a cancer is found and treated, the better the chances are for living for many years. Over one million people get cancer each year. Anyone can get cancer at any age; however, about 77% of all cancers are diagnosed in people age of 55 and older. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have been cured of the disease. The sooner a cancer is found and the sooner treatment begins, the better a patient's chances are of a cure. That's why early detection of cancer is such an important weapon in the fight against cancer.

A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a disease. Some risk factors can be changed, and others cannot. Risk factors for cancer can include a person's age, sex, and family medical history. Others are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Still others are related to lifestyle choices such as tobacco and alcohol use, diet, and sun exposure. Having a risk factor for cancer means that a person is likely to develop the disease at some point in their lives. However, having one or more risk factors does not necessarily mean that a person will get cancer. Some people with one or more risk factors never develop the disease, while other people who do develop cancer have no apparent risk factors. Even when a person who has a risk factor is diagnosed with cancer, there is no way to prove that the risk factor actually caused the cancer. Different kinds of cancer have different risk factors. Some of the major risk factors include the following:

• Cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidney, cervix esophagus, and pancreas are related to tobacco use, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff. Smoking alone causes one-third of all cancer deaths.
• Skin cancer is related to unprotected exposure to strong sunlight.
• Breast cancer risk factors include several factors: age; changes in hormone levels throughout life, such as age at first menstruation, number of pregnancies, and age at menopause; obesity; and physical activity. Some studies have also shown a connection between alcohol consumption and an increased risk of breast cancer. Also, women with a mother or sister who have had breast cancer are more likely to develop the disease themselves.
• While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, several factors can increase the chances of developing the disease, such as age, race, and diet. The chance of getting prostate cancer goes up with age. A high-fat diet may play a part in causing prostate cancer. Also, men with a father or brother who have had prostate cancer are more likely to get prostate cancer themselves.

Overall, environmental factors, defined broadly to include tobacco use, diet, and infectious diseases, as well as chemicals and radiation cause an estimated 75% of all cancer cases. Among these factors, tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and physical activity are more likely to affect personal cancer risk. Research shows that about one-third of all cancer deaths are related to dietary factors and lack of physical activity in adulthood.

Smoking and drinking alcohol cause some people to get certain types of cancer. These cancers might be prevented by avoiding tobacco and alcohol. The best idea is to never use tobacco at all. Cigarettes, cigars, pipes and smokeless tobacco cause cancer and should not be used. People who already smoke should try to quit. Former smokers have less risk of cancer than do people who continue to smoke. The chances of getting skin cancer can be lowered by staying in the shade as much as you can, wearing a hat and shirt when you are in the sun, and using sunscreen. We know that our diet, (what we eat) is linked to some types of cancer, although the exact reasons are not yet clear. The best advice is to eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains like pasta and bread, and to cut down on high fat foods. There are tests, called screening examinations that adults should have in order to find cancer early. If cancer is found early it can often be cured.

Homeopathy is a scientific and holistic system of medicine. It has its ability to improve your health dynamically by acting on our body’s life giving energy the vital force. This vital force gives life to a cell which then divides further and develops itself in to a complex human body. The role of vital force or life energy never ends after the development of first cell. In fact a single cell or entire human body or any living thing on this earth, be it an insect or a plant or a giant animal or a complex human body, it starts disintegrating once the life energy stops flowing in them. A healthy state of the body is not as a result of healthy cells and healthy tissue but it is as a result of healthy and balanced life energy or vital force which is maintaining the body in a healthy state. In a diseased body all what we see in a microscope is a diseased cell. But actually the cell is made diseased by virtue of disturbed life energy or vital force which is no more in a balance and harmonious state. There by the result of this disturbance is first seen as a disturbed functioning of the body. When this disturbance is carried further we see disturbance at a cellular level. This disturbance at a cellular level can be broadly understood as under growth (Dwarfism), over growth (Goiter), abnormal growth (Cancer) and destruction (ulcer). This is one of the most important reason why we are not able to explain the cause of cancer as definite prediction or for that matter in any illness we are able to see that same causes of illness do not affect every one few gets affected and few remains unaffected.

Homeopathy has a potential to act on this life giving energy dynamically and change the disturbed energy to state of balance and harmony. Once this is done then the now balanced and harmonious life energy cures body which is diseased.

This mode of homeopathic cure is safe and without side effect. Homeopathy can benefit in cancer at an early age when the growth is in a state of reversible state. Homeopathy can cure cancer when vital organs in body like liver, kidney, heart, bone marrow are unaffected. Homeopathy is successful when metastasis has not occurred. At a primary stage homeopathy has a good role to play. In advance cases of cancer where there is no hope of person’s life, homeopathy still offers good palliation in pain control and general state of health where person finds improvement in his appetite, sleep, general strength and pain. This is achieved with less harmful and less invasive and cost effective way without subjecting patients to dangerous side effects. Homeopathy can not increase persons life in this advanced stage of cancer but homeopathy can improve the quality of the remaining life of a person suffering from advance stage of cancer.