During our cancer unit I learned several new things. I learned that not all tumors are cancerous. If a tumor is cancerous, then it's malignant; if it's not, then it's benign. I also learned those terms to describe the type of tumor it is. Another new thing I discovered is that there is a gene in cells called P53 and when this particular gene has a mutation, it leads to cancer. It affects the checkpoints in cells which where the cell pauses in the cell cycle to make sure there are no problems. Whenever there is, the cell automatically will either fix any problems or mutations or else kill itself. When the P53 is defective, these checkpoints don't occur or work. Also I learned what carcinogens are. Carcinogens are cancer causing chemicals. Cancer typically is not completely fatal or horrible or terribly painful until it reaches a stage it can proceed with metastasis. Metastasis is the last newly learned thing I will explain although I learned more than this. Metastasis is a process where cancer cells travel through blood vessels to other locations in the body. They then attach themselves to the walls of the vessels and eventually make their way through the wall into the tissue of an organ and continue reproducing more cancer cells there. That is how cancer spreads to other areas of the body and gets worse. One thing that I really liked about this unit was how we all got to act as specialists to diagnose a pretend patient. We had to evaluate the symptoms and problems our patients were having and do research to decide what possible cancers they might have and what tests to recommend they take to find out. Once the cancer was confirmed we all had our own jobs to do to help treat the patient or educate the patient on how to help themselves and explain everything that was happening to them. It was a great experience to act as though we were part of something like that and know what all happens and get a feel for how it works. I'm confident that I know a lot more about cancer now and what it actually means to have cancer. Something that I didn't like as much about this unit was there were times when I felt it was a little too independent. We got help if we ever asked, but I personally didn't feel completely confident about what I was doing. There's no one else in the class who has the same cancer as your small group but no one in your group has the same job as you. On top of all the other classes we have and the work we do for them, I guess it just felt overwhelming. Over all it was still an enlightening experience that was well worth it. Now that the unit is over, I still have a few questions: What is all being done to find better treatments for cancer? How much time, energy, and money is being put into research? Besides donating money to random cancer fundraisers, what can I do to help any part of the cancer situation personally? What are the chances of me or any of my friends getting cancer? How many people in the world are estimated to be affected directly by cancer? There's still a lot left to answer.