cancer vs lichen

cancer

noun
  • Something damaging that spreads throughout something else. 

  • A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation. 

adj
  • Extremely unpleasant and annoying. 

lichen

noun
  • Something which gradually spreads across something else, causing damage. 

  • Any of many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi, often found as white or yellow-to-blue–green patches on rocks, old walls, etc. 

How often have the words cancer and lichen occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )