Characteristics of Cancer cells: How Cancer cells are different from normal cells?

Cancer: It is a group of disorders resulting from a loss of cell cycle control due to multiple mutational events.
 Or It is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell growth and division.

Characteristics of cancer cells:

• Uncontrolled cell growth and division. (Cells becomes immortal)
• Cells become independent from normal cellular controls that limits growth and division.

• It becomes invasive or capable of spreading from one tissues to other called as metastasis.

Other characters:

Density independent growth of cells: Normal cells stop division when it touches the boundaries of other cells, termed as ‘contact inhibition’. Cancer cells loss this property and form layers one above the other.

Altered morphology: The nucleus of the cells become irregular and the number of lysosomes increase in cancer cells.

• Reduced cell-to cell interaction.
• Failure of differentiation: Cell division without differentiation.
• Failure of apoptosis or programmed cell death.
• Production of collagenase, a protease for metastasize.

• Uncontrolled division even in the absence of growth stimulators (immortal).
• Presence of telomerase in cancer cells.
• Cells show aneuploids or variation in chromosome number.
• Cancer cell induces vascularization to support their growth.
• Induce angiogenesis (blood vessel formation).

Cancer is a curable disease with proper treatment, faith, love, care and support,…………. our immune system is one of the best known defense systems in the entire universe.
Stay away from smoking, drugs and alcohol…..

Reference: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/