Types of cells and cancer
Different types of cells in your bodyYour body is made up of billions of cells that can only be seen under a microscope. These cells are grouped together to make up the tissues and organs of our bodies. These cells are basically the same, but they do vary in some ways. This is because the body organs do very different things. For example, nerves and muscles do very different things. So nerve and muscle cells are different. The different types of cells can be grouped together or classified according to the job they do, or the type of body tissue they make up. For example there are: Epithelial tissue
Connective tissueConnective tissue is the name for the supporting tissue of the body, the bones, cartilage, tendons and fibrous tissue that supports the body organs. Connective tissue cancers are called 'sarcomas'. Sarcomas can develop from Bone  Cartilage  Muscle  Sarcomas are much less common than carcinomas. They make up about 6% of all cancers. Blood and lymph tissueThere are many different types of blood and lymph tissue cells. These are really specialised connective tissue cells. The blood cells are made in the bone marrow in tissue called haematopoetic tissue. Blood and lymph tissue can develop into Cancers of the blood cells - leukaemias  Cancers of the lymphatic system - lymphomas  Leukaemias and lymphomas make up about 5% of all types of cancer. But they are the commonest type of cancer affecting children. Other body tissues and cancerOther body tissue cells can become cancerous. But these types of cancer are very rare. The biggest group of these rare cancers are brain tumours. Brain tumours develop from the cells that support the nerve cells in the brain, called glial cells. These cancers also get their names from the cells they developed from. So cancers of the glial cells are called 'gliomas'.  |
