[silver_pilate]

My prayers are already out there for you, Brian.

Just remember that the human will is probably the strongest force on this earth. Will yourself through it. Don't ever even think of giving up, and you may be surprised at what your body can do. A good older friend of mine died recently. His body was completely eaten with cancer which I believe began in his liver (bad news). They gave him three months. That was almost two years ago. The only reason he didn't pass earlier is that he was TOUGH. Tougher than anyone has a right to be.

Anyway, in his case, it was too late for his body to fight back, but you're young and with the doctor's help, we pray that you can beat this thing.

--nathan

Jonathan,

To address your question.... No one really knows what causes cancer. Many think there is some genetic link, a correlation which has been made within many forms of cancer. Perhaps it results from injury, or from environmental agents or chemicals, horemone supplements, etc. Many times, it may just be an error in mitosis where the genetic code gets scrambled to some degree (which, when you think of how many times cells within our bodies undergo mitosis each day, it's amazing we don't have many more errors in replication). Bottom line, it results from some sort of damage to the DNA of the cell.

Basically, all cancer is is renegade cells. Cells that are dysfunctional in that they have uncontrolled replication and function. The reason testicular cancer is a very aggressive cancer results from the fact that the normal cells in the testes reproduce very rapidly to begin with. When cancer forms, that just helps it grow fairly quickly. Also, a rich blood supply to the genetal areas can allow metastasis (the cancerous cells spread to another area of the body and take up residence). This is also the case in areas like the liver which has an unbelievable cell replication rate with a tremendous blood flow.

That fact is that every one of us has some sort of cancerous cells. However, for the vast majority, our immune systems are able to keep tabs on the renegade cells and the cancer cells never gain a foothold as they aren't all that robust. However, when the cancer becomes too aggressive and our own body cannot rid itself of these cells, that is where problems begin.

I'm no expert in cancer, but that is a very basic base for understanding what exactly cancer is.

--nathan