American cancer society

Resource for American cancer society and fun search portal . Continue for our current list for the American cancer society

Love Poems, Love Calculator

Arts And Entertainment

Health And Fitness

Home Based Business

Self Improvement

Dating, Love, Sexuality

Relationships

Funny Pictures

MSN Nick Names,Display Pictures,Emoticons,Background

In cellular model systems, cells are exposed to carcinogenic influences (chemicals, radiation). In these systems, the first signs of a cell developing into a tumor cell are:

  • Immortality. The usual number of cell divisions for a mammalian cell is 50-60 (cell senescence), then it ceases to divide. Tumor cells keep dividing forever.
  • Altered morphology.
  • Building of cellular clusters (Foci).
  • Loss of contact inhibition.
  • Low or no need for growth factors.

Items 2-4 (above) can sometimes be traced to mutations in genes that result in a disruption of cell adhesion. Some cell adhesion proteins are oncogenes.

In medicine, cancer is a general term for any of a number of different diseases where some of the body's own cells divide in an uncontrolled manner. The resulting new cells can form a malignant tumor (a neoplasm) or propagate throughout the body.

The field of medicine concerned with the treatment of cancer is oncology. Cancer has become an important problem with the rise in life expectancy, as the abovementioned mutations become more likely the longer a person lives. Though great progress in treatment has been made, most cancers in advanced stages remain incurable and ultimately fatal.