How Cancer Cells Grow and Spread?

The human body is made up of billions of cells. Cells are the small building blocks that make up the tissues and organs. At the beginning of a life, every organism consists of only one cell. This cell made a copy of itself (replication) and then split into two cells. In this article, How Cancer Cells Grow and Spread?

Cell Division

These two cells have then multiplied and divided so that the two cells have become four cells. These four cells have doubled and divided into eight cells and so on.

Cells specialize to perform certain tasks. Some cells join together to form a finger together, for example. Others become skin cells. Cells age and die after a certain period of time ("programmed cell death", apoptosis), and cell division causes new cells to emerge to take their place.

Normally, because of the information contained in their genome, cells "know" which other cells they can connect to and attach to - and they also know when to stop their division and die. Each cell type performs a specific function and has a specific set of information or instructions. For example, cells know how to make the right number of fingers on one hand, and that the fingers should grow only on the hands.

Every finger is covered with skin, and everyone has a fingernail. When you cut your finger, the skin cells begin to multiply and new skin is created to close the wound. If you lose a fingernail, the cells can grow a new nail. However, they cannot grow an extra finger: the rules by which cells multiply are clearly defined, and healthy cells stick to it.

Role of the Hormones and the Lymphatic System

Hormones transmit messages to the cells and make them become active. These messages are forwarded with the blood through the vascular system. The blood also transports the other substances that cells need for their functioning. For example, the cells need oxygen and sugar to stay alive. Some of the waste products and the low-oxygen blood are transported away via the blood vessels after the cells absorb the oxygen from the blood. The lymphatic system also helps to clean and dispose of waste products. The lymphatic system is also part of the body's immune system (immune system) and also transports bacteria and foreign bodies.

Benign and Malignant Growth

If the genetic material and thus the knowledge of a cell is disturbed, it can change morbidly. As long as these are only a few cells and they are kept in check by the bodies defines the system, they do not hurt. Only when they begin to divide uncontrollably and form nodes or growths does one of more than 200 diseases called "cancer" develop. Growths, in general, are called tumors.

A malignant tumor (cancer) differs from a benign or a tumor in that

He exceeds tissue limits,

Destroyed the surrounding tissue and

Develop Secondary Tumours.

Malignant tumors can be life-threatening. But there are also cancers that sometimes develop so slowly in the elderly that they cause no complaints during life. Benign tumors usually do little damage and usually do not become life-threatening. But there is no guarantee for it: Thus, benign growths can become dangerous through strong growth or sometimes develop into a malignant tumor after a certain time.

When cancer cells begin to divide, they do not behave like normal cells. For example, they do not know when to stop dividing and when to die off. On the other hand, they are not always firmly attached to each other. Therefore, they can separate from their cell structure and move through the vascular or lymphatic system to grow at another body site. This process is called metastasis.

Carcinoma in Situ

When malignant tissue, as shown in the picture, is closed to the outside and has not yet spread into the surrounding tissue, in medicine one speaks of a "carcinoma in situ". If this tumor does not continue to grow, it is also referred to as "staying silent" ("resting cancer cells").

To grow further, such a tumor begins to form its own blood vessels to provide itself with the additional oxygen, glucose, and hormones it needs to survive and grow. This process of forming a vascular system is called angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels). Once a tumor has started, it can invade the surrounding tissue. In this case, one speaks of invasive cancer.

Invasive Cancer

Active cancer cells can enter the blood or lymphatic system and reach other parts of the body to settle and re-form a tumor (metastasis or secondary tumor).

Cancer Therapy is Intended to Remove Tumour or Limit Growth

There are many different types of cancer therapy, all of which try to remove the malignant tumor or at least prevent its growth and spread. Some tumors can be surgically removed. Sometimes, medications (chemotherapy) or various forms of radiation therapy (radiotherapy) are used beforehand to reduce the size of the tumor before surgery. Even after surgery, sometimes chemo and/or radiotherapy is used to destroy leftover cells and prevent recurrent cancer growth.

If you cannot surgically remove the tumor, medicines and/or radiotherapy are used directly. What the treatment looks like depends, among other things, on the type of tumor and the stage of the disease. Chemotherapeutics work in different ways. There are medicines whose purpose is to disrupt the growth of tumors, for example by preventing the formation of blood vessels that supply the tumor. Still, other medications are aimed directly at preventing the division of cancer cells or stopping their responses to hormones. Research is constantly looking for new ways to limit the growth and spread of cancer cells.