What are the consequences of delaying tumor treatment?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am writing a fiction novel about scientific abnormalities. I think there is no better professional than a doctor to ask this. What would happen if a tumor were left untouched in a human? What happens after the tumor takes over their life? Would it eventually conquer the entire body of the victim?

What would be the result? Would it count as a separate organism once it overtakes the body? This question is not meant to disturb your work; it is only for the development of ideas. If you find this question unethical or offensive, please ignore it.

Please help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

A tumor basically consists of cells with an unregulated capacity to multiply and spread. So, if the tumor is not removed, then its size keeps increasing. Also, it spreads to different organs through the blood and other tissues, and occupies other organs as well. So, normal tissues or organs throughout the body are invaded by tumor cells, which cannot carry out the normal function of the organ, so organ failure ensues. So, one organ failure leads to another, and eventually the heart stops, and the person dies.

So, the human body is invaded by cells, which causes dysfunction in the body, and eventually the body stops working (meaning death) before going ahead. But, we cannot consider it as a separate or new organism because new cells are not functional and cannot form organs to make a new organism.

For imaginary purposes, you can think in a way you mentioned of transforming or replacing one individual with another or a person who has acquired some new characteristics due to tumor cells, etc., but this does not occur in reality.

I hope this helps.

Kindly follow up if you have more concerns.

Thank you.