Inflammation -The Key to Cancer Cell Overgrowth

A Little Known Factor in the Spread of Cancer is Inflammation

There are many different opinions on what causes cancer to grow and spread, but the one that is not talked about very often is inflammation. How can inflammation cause the growth of cancer? To answer that, we must first understand what inflammation is and how it works.

Normally, inflammation will occur when there is an injury or because the body is being attacked by germs. Wounds heal by way of inflammation when white blood cells mobilize, stimulate new cell growth and cause new blood vessels to development. This is a process called angiogenesis. It is by these processes that also enable cancer cells to grow as well.

The signs of inflammation are heat, redness, swelling, and pain in or outside of the body. It is the body's way of getting the nourishment it needs to the wound or injury to begin the healing process and to stimulate more immune responsive blood cells and antibodies to attack invaders. Some cancer doctors refer to cancer as "the wound that never heals."

Interestingly, cancer cells require the same processes for growth as does the immune system to heal the body by inflammation. When inflammation does it's job the wound heals or the invaders die and the body goes back into a state of good health. But when inflammation continues and wounds do not heal or germs continue to proliferate, many problems can occur, one of which is cancer cell overgrowth.

Although many things can stimulate cancer angiogenesis, the most significant thing is the consumption of omega-6 fats. The omega-6 fats powerfully stimulate angiogenesis, thereby greatly increasing the likelihood of cancer cells spreading throughout the body. Omega-6 fats are unsaturated fats. The most common places you will find unhealthy Omega-6 fats is in soybean, sunflower, corn, and safflower oils. The average diet of most Americans is loaded with Omega-6 fats in the form of fast foods, fried foods, and highly processed foods. Combine those highly processed foods with processed sugar, which is another source of angiogenesis and you have a double whammy working against you.