4. The Three Essential Properties of Cancer
All cancers begin with the conversion of one cell from a normal state into a cancerous state. During this process, which in most cases takes many years, the changing cell acquires three main properties that distinguish it as a cancer cell. These three essential properties are the defining characteristics of the disease. Normal cells have none of these properties.
The three properties are:
1. An unlimited capacity for growth
2. An inability to die
3. An ability to spread (from the site of origin)
To know these properties is to appreciate the very nature of cancer.
They define how well a cancer grows and survives in the body, and they largely determine how curable any particular cancer is. It is extremely important to realize, however, that the power and extent of each property is different for each cancer.
Some cancers grow slowly, others quickly; some have a great capacity to spread throughout the body, others a more limited ability to do so. Just as every person is unique, so is every cancer. This is why I caution patients that the information they receive about other people with cancer will probably not relate to their case.
