There are many theories about why we get cancer individually, they range from genetic mutations through to environmental carcinogens, improper diet and the use of cell phones and other electromagnetic equipment.
I intend to look at the question form a more metaphysical perspective.
First of all, how much do we suffer from cancer? The statistic that is often cited, especially by people promoting alternative cancer cures, is that 1 in 3 people suffer from cancer at some time in their life.
At first sight this seems unbelievably high so I went looking for the source of this information and found it in statistics published by the American Cancer Society.
In the period 2002 -2004 the chance of developing invasive cancer over a lifetime (from birth – death) is 44.94% or 1 in 2 for men and 37.52% or 1 in 3 for women.
Further information from the same source tells us that 1,500 Americans are predicted to die every day from cancer in 2008 and that it is responsible for 1 in every 4 deaths. Globally, 7.6 million people died from cancer in 2007.
The only good news in this deluge of death is that the 5 year survival rate over all cancers in the US is 66% in 2008 which is up from 50% in 1975-1977.
So, from a statistical viewpoint, and assuming that the US statistics can be interpreted globally, more than 1 in 3 of us will develop invasive cancer in our lifetime and about half of those cases will prove fatal.
What is cancer? As I am not a doctor I won’t attempt to answer this question from a medical perspective but more from a symbolic viewpoint.
We perceive our body to be a unique and singular organism but it is actually a colony of billions of cells acting in alignment. Each cell in our body has an individual existence, it is created, lives for a period carrying out its function and then dies and is replaced. This all happens below our level of conscious awareness but is essential for our continued existence and good health.
Our very existence is a miracle of cellular co-operation, every second of our life relies on millions of aligned and organised interactions and communications between our cells.
Cells are arranged in groups called organelles and organs and are differentiated to perform different functions, all of which are necessary to the functioning of the organism as a whole. Our cells act with a singular intention; to carry out their individual function for the good of the whole being.
Cancer happens when one or more of our cells starts to act independently; it begins to grow and multiply out of alignment with the needs of the greater body. It’s as if they no longer hear or obey the needs of the body and set off to have their own existence, even though this can lead to the death of the body and therefore their own demise.
Cells don’t really have much imagination, when they set off for an independent existence all that know to do is to multiply and so this is what they do, some cancer cells will also continue to perform their specialised function as they spread and multiply e.g. cells from the testis, when cancerous, can produce high levels of oestrogen throughout the body.
Cancerous cells have certain characteristics
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