| From: | Mark Mains <mains@*********.NET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Cancer in relation to shapeshifters |
| Date: | Fri, 24 Apr 1998 07:46:38 -0500 |
> Cancer is *your own cells* growing out of
> control.
> Your body doesn't fight it, and in fact fights any treatments to "cure" it
> because your body thinks it's normal.
Katt Freyson wrote:
> If the DNA is screwed up, would that itself not constitute damage that would be
> repaired by the regeneration? Or rather, if there is some supernatural
> healing factor at work, would it not repair damage to DNA, thereby
> perventing cancer? What do you think?
Just to set the record straight (medically speaking) on cancers.
A cancer is any cell in which the normal controls that keep it from growing beyond a
certain point are missing or corrupted (for example, a wart). Cancers occur
frequently in the body but are destroyed by the immune response. However, in some
cases...and scientists still aren't sure why, the cancer will resist the bodies
attempt to destroy it and grow out of control. This leads to the "cancer" that
people
generally refer to. (Just to be safe I took this almost word for word from my college
physiology txtbk)
In games that I have played in people with cyberware have gotten cancer due to the
CW's disruption of the natural body processes. (However, due to the advanced state of
tech. most cancers aren't that big a deal...we just use it as a way to put someone out
of action for a while and make them spend money). IMO, someone with regeneration
would not be able to get cancer normally as their immune system would keep on top of
the situation. However, if they WERE to develope a cancer their immune system
couldn't cope with all hell would break loose as their regenerating powers would work
on a cancer ( a cell which is always regenerating). I would give someone like this a
week to live at most before they turned into a giant blob of protoplasm.
But, as always, who's to say what would really happen in the presence of magic.
mark
