Cancer is a term used to describe a group of illnesses all having certain common characteristics. These characteristics include an over-growth of cells which forms a tumour. Tumours cause medical problems either directly by pressing on and damaging other nearby organs or indirectly by breaking off and invading other distant tissues and organs.

Cancer is not just one disease. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start. The main categories of cancer include carcinoma which begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs, sarcoma which begins in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels or other connective or supportive tissue, leukaemia which starts in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow, lymphoma and myeloma which begin in the cells of the immune system, and central nervous system cancers which begin in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord. Cancer can affect people at any age.

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