Cancer Cell Analysis

Cancerous cells are cell that have evaded the systems that maintain control and limit their growth and division. When a cancer causing virus inserts their nucleic acid into the DNA of host chromosomes, the virus can become permanently located within the host cells. Viruses that harbor genes can make a cell cancerous if they invade permanently into these host cells. Cancer causing genes are known as oncogenes, or “tumor genes”. In addition, animal cells can contain proto-oncogenes, which are normal animal genes that possess the potential ability to be transformed into oncogenes. A proto-oncogene converts to an oncogene only when a mutation occurs in the cell’s DNA. A proto-oncogene transforms into an oncogene by three different methods: mutation within the gene, multiplies copies of the gene and when the gene is relocated to a new DNA position while under new management. A malfunction in cell division may cause growth factors, or proteins which stimulate the cell, to become hyperactive, which can result in uncontrolled cell growth. Uncontrolled cell growth can potentially result in cancerous cells. In normal cell growth, tumor-suppresor genes are able to regulates for proteins which reduce cell growth and division. These tumor-suppressor genes help to put the spread of cancerous tumors to a hault. However, in uncontrolled cell growth, a mutation can occur within the tumor-suppressor genes, causing it’s protein to malfunction and become defective. This means that the cells can freely divide among themselves, and the result could be the formation of tumors. However, it must be understood that multiple mutations must occur before a cancer cell can be fully created. Cancer progresses once a tumor becomes malignant and can spread throughout the body. To make this simpler, the three steps of the progression of cancer begins with an oncogene being set in motion causing a spike in excessive cell division. Then the tumor-suppressor genes become dormant causing the growth of...