Molecular Genetics of Cancer
Molecular Genetics
of Cancer
The crucial defect in cancer cells is that they proliferate in an unrestrained manner (neoplastic growth). The mechanism that controls the rate of division of normal cells has somehow broken down, and the cancer cells multiply much more rapidly, invading other tissues in the body. Cancer cells originate from normal cells that lose their constraint on division and become dedifferentiated (less specialized) to some degree. Thus there are many kinds of cancer, depending on the original founder cells of the tumor. In recent years mounting evidence has indicated that the change in many cancerous cells, perhaps all, has a genetic basis, and investigation of the genetic damage that causes cancer is now a major thrust of cancer research.
The crucial defect in cancer cells is that they proliferate in an unrestrained manner (neoplastic growth). The mechanism that controls the rate of division of normal cells has somehow broken down, and the cancer cells multiply much more rapidly, invading other tissues in the body. Cancer cells originate from normal cells that lose their constraint on division and become dedifferentiated (less specialized) to some degree. Thus there are many kinds of cancer, depending on the original founder cells of the tumor. In recent years mounting evidence has indicated that the change in many cancerous cells, perhaps all, has a genetic basis, and investigation of the genetic damage that causes cancer is now a major thrust of cancer research.
Support our developers
