Malignant

From ArticleWorld

One of the most dreaded words in the English language; ‘malignant’ is the clinical term for a change in cell behavior that leads to death. Malignant transformation is used to describe the process of cell change from benign to malignant. This change is often evident due to a change in the size of the affected area or by direct examination.

Causes of malignant change

Changes in the cell may be due to a primary process; or internal process within the cell itself; or because of external factors such as the introduction of inorganic toxic substances into our bodies. These are myriad in the environment and include substances such as cadmium used in batteries, pigments and coatings or arsentites found in pesticides and fertilizers to name a few.

The nitrosimes found in tobacco cause cancer and are also present in the processed foods so popular today. Viruses can also play a part in turning damaged cells malignant. One of these, the Epstein-Barr virus, is one with which most people are infected in the developed world by the age of 18 months. It is a type of herpes which is harmless until it reacts with other factors in the body to develop cancer.

Dealing with malignancy

Due to the predominance of cancer-causing elements in the environment mostly as a result of modern lifestyles, a certain amount of risk assessment must be carried out. This means that the risk of substances to the public health must be measured and dealt with accordingly. One example of this is the FDA in America ruling that those substances found to cause cancer must not be present in meat at concentrations greater than one in a million lifetimes.