GENERAL INFORMATION

"Swelling or enlargements of abnormal cells located within a tissue or organ are called tumours. Malignant tumours , or cancer, have the ability to invade normal cells and spread throughout the body." As such, malignant tumours can become life threatening. Unlike malignant tumours, benign tumours do not invade adjacent tissues and do not spread throughout the body. As such, benign tumours generally are not life threatening. However, cells in some benign tumours can acquire additional changes and become malignant or cancerous. Thus, tumours can be either benign or malignant, and some benign tumours can progress over time to become malignant tumours, or cancer.


The information contained in the following pages focus primarily on malignant tumours or cancers, as they are commonly known. The information provided is to help you understand how cancer is diagnosed and treated. There is additional information on support services and nutritional advice.

The website of The National Cancer Society is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through this website should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, you should consult your health care provider.

We cannot advice you about the best treatment for you. You will need to discuss this with your own doctors. However, we hope this information will answer some of your questions and help you into thinking about questions you want to ask your doctors.

NCSM would like to express its sincere gratitude to various cancer organisations for their contributions to this section, especially the Cancer Council of Victoria (Australia), the Cancer Foundation of Western Australia and the National Cancer Institute (US).

The staff of NCSM will be editing all information to make it more locally relevant to Malaysians. If you know of any non profit support services that may be helpful to individuals with cancer, please contact us at contact@cancer.org.my

For more information please see the links on the left.