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     1. What is the difference between a benign tumor and cancer?

• A benign tumor sits there and grows slowly. If you remove it, it doesn't return. However, if it is in the wrong place (like deep in the brain), it can still kill.
• Cancer is a malignant tumor, which invades tissues aggressively. It may only invade locally, or it may metastasize and spread to areas far away, like the lungs and liver. The most malignant types grow rapidly and have already spread or metastasized to other organs before the original tumor is detected. So a malignant tumor of the skin that is only locally invasive can have a better outlook than a benign tumor of the brain.
• Cancers are now "staged", or classified into degrees of malignancy. The mild types have a more hopeful outlook than the severe types.

     2. What causes cancer?

• There is nothing that will always cause cancer in all animals. If an animal has certain genes, it will be more likely to get certain types of cancer. There are contributing factors, and the more different things an animal is exposed to, the more likely that an animal will get cancer. The longer an animal is exposed to a carcinogen (cancer-causing substance), the more likely the animal will get cancer. The more cancer-causing factors an animal is exposed to, the more likely that an animal will get cancer.

     3. What are some of these factors?

• Heredity (Boxers get more cancer than any other breed. They are also more likely than other breeds, to have more than one type of cancer. Also, rats and mice are famous for the development of specific cancers in specific related lines.)
• Physical characteristics (Gray horses are more likely to get melanoma) (This is related to heredity.)
• Environment. (Excess exposure to sun can cause skin cancer.)
• Toxins. (Tars cause cancer)
• Physical and mental stress (There is a human personality type which has been linked with cancer. These are people who hold everything in, worry about the world, and present a smiley face to everyone. Universal mothers who don't take care of themselves.)

     4. How can cancer be inherited?

• There are actual cancer-causing genes ("oncogenes") that are present in higher number in cancer-prone individuals.
• There are also cancer-fighting cells which are more efficient in some individuals than in others.

     5. How do environment and chemicals cause cancer?

• One way is to cause damage by increasing "free radicals." These free radicals are very active chemical substances which react with tissues and change their chemical composition. These damaged tissues may lose the genetic instructions that control their normal cell division. This turns them into cancer cells.

     6. How can we prevent cancer?

• Avoid environmental factors that cause cancer. For example, pink-skinned cats should never go out in the sun, because they often develop skin cancer on ears and nose--areas not well-protected by fur.
• A second way is to increase the amounts of anti-oxidants in the food. This includes beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, pycnogenol, and others. Anti- oxidants are free radical scavengers (they de-activate free radicals). Controlled medical studies have proven their ability to decrease the incidence of cancer in humans. Co-enzyme Q-10 can also decrease the chance of getting cancer. I think it's about time we start using humans as lab animals and apply the results in animals--so I take these results and recommend that my patients receive extra anti-oxidants, above the amount present in dog or cat food. (This includes home-made diets also.)

     7. How can we cure cancer?

• Surgery
• Diet change
• Anti-oxidants
• Herbs
• Maybe chemotherapy

     8. I thought surgery just spread cancer around?

• Some types of cancer can be fully cured by surgery, if they only invade locally, if they are caught early, and if a big enough piece of tissue is removed. Also, some types of benign tumors (such as mammary cancer) can turn into cancer if left long enough, so surgery is a better alternative.

     9. Why not just take herbal cancer cures to prevent it?

• Herbs can be toxic. You don't always get the right one--no one herb will cure all cancers.