Can cancer spread from one person to another? We have become more aware of HPV, a rather contagious virus that can eventually lead to cancer, and it's true that HIV patients used to develop a particular type of cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma, but it's the virus that's communicable, not the cancer that may develop later. So the question is: Can you catch cancer from someone who has cancer?
In an oversimplified nutshell, cancer is, to quote cancer.gov, a disease “in which abnormal cells divide without control and can invade nearby tissues.” Given its propensity to spread and divide in an uncontrolled manner throughout a person’s body, it brings up the question of whether it’s possible for cancer cells to make their way into someone else’s body and infect their tissues.
Surprisingly, the answer to that question is yes.
It's happened quite a few times, in quite a few different ways. But that doesn't mean you're in danger from caring for a cancer patient. Today I Found Out gives us the details on cases in which one person's cancer infected someone else, and further information on some terrifying cancers in the animal kingdom that can spread rapidly.
(Image credit: Pfree2014)
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