Download 10 questions about Cancer

Questions and Answers about Cells and Cancer
1st draft 12/19/2007.
10 questions about Cancer
1. Question: What is Cancer?
Answer: Cancer is a disease of unhealthy cells. You cannot catch cancer like a cold or the
flu. A person can get cancer when the cells in a part of their body grow too quickly.
Sometimes this creates a tumor. Normal cells copy themselves in a process called cell
division. Cell division is how a person grows new cells to replace old cells. Cancer
happens when a cell makes too many new cells at one time, or when old cells do not die
when new ones are ready to take their place.
2. Question: I caught the chickenpox at school. Can I catch cancer at school too?
Answer: You cannot catch cancer at school, at the mall, at home, or at the park.
Chickenpox is an infection. Your chickenpox infection happened because a type of germ
called a virus got inside your body and made you sick. Viruses are very small and you
cannot see them without a microscope (picture of a microscope). The chickenpox virus
probably got inside your body while you were standing close to a person who had the
chickenpox virus inside his or her body.
Cancer is not like the chickenpox because it does not come from a virus. Remember,
cancer is a disease of unhealthy cells and is not an infection. You can’t catch cancer by
touching, hugging, or playing with a person who has cancer.
3. Question: How do you know if you have cancer?
Answer: Only a doctor can tell if you have cancer. If a doctor thinks a person might have
cancer he or she will do some tests to find out if a person is sick with cancer. This is a
list of some of the tests a doctor may do to find out if a person has cancer.
Biopsy – a small piece of tissue is taken from a person’s body so a doctor can look at it
under a microscope. A biopsy might hurt a little bit, but it is a very important test. A
doctor can give a person getting a biopsy a kind of medicine called an anesthetic to make
the test hurt less.
Physical exam –
X-rays –
Scan -
4. Question: Why are people with cancer bald?
Answer: When a person is sick with cancer a doctor may give them a kind of medicine
called Chemotherapy or “chemo” for short. Chemo is very strong medicine. It is so tough
it can get rid of cancer cells, but it sometimes hurts healthy cells too. When this happens
a person may feel tired and sick, their skin might become itchy and their hair may fall out.
People who loose their hair because of chemo sometimes wear bandanas (picture of a
head with a bandana) or hats (picture of a head with a hat) to keep their heads warm in
the winter and protect their heads from the sun in the summer. After a person is finished
with chemo his or her hair will grow back.
5. Question: Where do kids with cancer live?
Answer: Kids with cancer live with the people who take care of them just like they did
before they got cancer. Kids with cancer may have to go to the hospital for a long time to
have a special treatment or surgery, but they do not have to live at the hospital because
they have cancer.
6. Question: Who takes care of people with cancer?
Answer: There are special kinds of nurses and doctors who take care of people with
cancer. Doctors who take care of people with cancer are called oncologists. Nurses who
take care of people with cancer are called oncology nurses. These oncology nurses and
doctors work together to take care of kids with cancer.
7. Question: Does cancer hurt?
Answer: Yes, it can hurt to have cancer. Sometimes cancer makes a person feel like
throwing up and sometimes cancer makes a person feel very sick and very tired. People
with cancer may not feel well enough to do everything they want to do, which may make
them feel sad. Doctors and nurses know many ways help a person with cancer feel better
even when that person’s cancer hurts. Moms, dads, grandparents, brothers and sisters,
and friends of a kid with cancer can also do many things to help the person with cancer
feel better. Here are some things you can do to help a person with cancer feel better:
Write them a letter
Draw them a picture
Play a card game with them
Sing a song.
Give them hug
Tell a joke
8. Question: Are there different kinds of cancer?
Answer: There are many different types of cancer.
(List several types of cancer, or general information about types of cancer)
9. Question: What is a tumor?
Answer:
10. Question: Why do different kinds of cancer have such weird names?
Answer: Most kinds of cancer are named after the part of the body they are found in.
Cancer in the blood is called leukemia because it happens to a kind of blood cell called a
leukocyte. Bone cancer is called Osteosarcoma because osteo means bone. Eye cancer is
called retinoblastoma because the back of the eye, called the retina, is where the cancer
grows.
Questions about Cells
1. Question: What is DNA?
Answer:
2. Question: What is a Cell?
Answer: Cells are the smallest part of a living thing. (Use picture of a cell, possibly
introduce cell division or parts of the cell)
4. Question: Do cells eat?
Answer: (Parts of the cell.) Food enters through the outside of a cell called a membrane
It is important to eat good foods so that your cells will get good food as well.
5. Question: Are there cells in my body?
Answer: Yes, in fact, your entire body is made out of millions of cells. Within your body
identical types of cells work together in groups to form tissues, and some tissues come
together to form organs. Your heart and your stomach are organs.
Cell
Tissue
Organ
You!
6. What do cells taste like?
Answer: Cells are so small that you can’t taste a single cell with your tongue. However,
you can taste the groups of cells that make up the things you eat. Carrot cells taste like
carrots. Apple cells taste like apples. Chicken cells taste like chicken.
7. Questions: Where do cells come from?
Answer: All cells come from other cells. In a process called cell division
normal cells copy themselves in a process called cell division. Cell division is how a
person grows new cells to replace old cells. Cancer happens when a cell makes too many
new cells at one time, or when old cells do not die when new ones are ready to take their
place.
8. Question: Do rocks have cells?
Answer: Rocks do not have cells. Only living things such as people, animals, and plants
have cells.
9. Question Are there different kinds of cells in my body?
Answer: Yes. In fact, your entire body is made of up of different kinds of cells. There are
skin cells, blood cells, bone cells, brain cells, nerve cells, and eye cells. There is a special
kind of cell for every part of your body.
Brain Cell (picture)
Red Blood Cell (picture)
Bone Cell (picture)
10. Question: How do cells get cancer?
Answer: Scientists and doctors do not know all of the reasons cells get cancer but they
are working everyday to find out more about cancer and where it comes from. Scientists
do know that cancer is sometimes caused by a change in a cell’s DNA. A cell’s DNA
contains the instructions
Other places to learn
www.cancer.gov