Probably one of the most unusual roles for Sean Connery was his portrayal of a scientist looking into a way to eradicate cancer; whilst it still continues to kill people, it is not always the death sentence it once was. Think about that for a moment; can you even imagine the impact this would have on our world if the suffering of so many people could be put to an end? The problem is we don't fully understand the causes of cancer although there are many things in our life that can trigger it.

Even now many people do not really understand what cancer is despite growing up with it all around them. Could it be true that we are all born with it? Well, it is a disease that's characterized by a large number of cells that continue to grow and divide; they invade and destroy adjacent tissues and may even spread to other anatomical sites through a process called metastasis.

The malignant property of cancer differentiates it from benign tumors which limit their growth and do not invade or metastasize; some benign tumors, however, are capable of becoming malignant. The risk of contracting this condition increases with age even though it can also affect the young; cancer is responsible for around 130,000 deaths for every one million people each year. Most cancers are caused by some form of poison in the cells which creates abnormalities in the genetic makeup of those cells; cigarette smoke is a predisposing factor to a number of cancers.

Although genetic abnormalities may be caused by it they may also be randomly acquired through problems in the body's DNA replication; a genetic trait may be inherited and thus present in all cells from birth. It is still not fully understood why one person will contract the disease and another be free from it but it is believed that the interactions between any carcinogens and each person's particular DNA is complicated.

Long term research has given a better picture of what cancer is and the study of cancer is one of the top ten diseases being researched throughout the world. Study, in general, helps us learn why one person is more susceptible to an illness than another. After all we all want to know more about why we contract cancer and how to avoid it.

Over recent years, concern has been made public over the possibility that our dietary habits may be partly to blame for the incidence of the condition. People are generally eating too much of the wrong things such as an excess salt intake, too much saturated fat and certain dairy produce; studies have shown that there is a connection between dairy produced calcium and prostrate cancer.

Cancer does not have any prejudice when it comes to invading a person's body as it can strike anywhere. Sometimes the disease is only picked up through routine screening. Usually the cancer is at an early stage and a person may have a better chance of being cured. the number of different types of cancer that can be treated has increased dramatically in recent years with so much intensive research being carried out. Cancer is not the certain death sentence it once was and although many of its various forms are incurable at this time, medical science continues to improve.