Cancer has recently become a comparatively common disease among people. While itโs known that the death rate for cancer is extremely high, yet, the survival rate for cancer is increasing continuously: cancer survival rate reached over 70% according to the 2019 data. Likewise, medical technology around the world is developing, too. While almost everyone knows about cancer, there are still very few people who know how cancer cells differ from normal cells and how they develop themselves inside the human body. To understand specifically about cancer cells, itโs important to know what โcancerโ is. So, cancer is a disease in which cells of certain body parts grow infinitely and uncontrollably, eventually spread to other body parts, and end up leading the body to death.
Author: Ruby Kim Editor: Haryeong Eo, Yunjin Jung
Difference between cancer cells and normal cells & mitosis in cancer cells
Then how can cancer even cause death, while cancer cells are still the body cells? While itโs true that cancer cells are initially normal body cells, however, they have completely different features with healthy body cells due to the several possible causes including: genetic change, genetic instability, DNA damage, or getting infected by cancer virus. The main difference between the normal cells and cancer cells is that cancer cells have the ability to proliferate themselves infinitely and unstoppably without the bodyโs permission to do so, in contrast, healthy body cells can only increase themselves when they are told to, and only proliferate a certain amount. If a body cell which initially had potential to be cancer cell experiences causes that are listed above, they eventually become cancer cells, which ignore the order to stop proliferating. Infinitely increasing cancer cells will end up invading nearby areas, meaning the other organs. In this process, cancer cells can lead humans to death by forming solid tumors. In other words, mitosis in cancer cells is extremely fast and itโll continue infinitely.
Types of cancer cells and stage of spread
There are four main types of cancer cells, and they are distinguished by the body part where they origin from: Carcinomas, Sarcomas, Leukemias, and Lymphomas. Firstly, Carcinomas are a kind of cancer cell originating from humanโs skin cells. Secondly, if the cancer cell was initially a cell in tissues that connect the human body; for example, fat, muscle, joint, and bone, its type is Sarcomas. Thirdly, Leukemias is a type of cancer cell that occurs in the blood, and lastly, Lymphomas cancer, that develops in the human lymphatic system, which is the body part that fights against germs and infection. Situation of cancer cells inside the body can be separated into 4 stages. In stage 1, cancer cells occur, but don't spread to other tissues. Stage 2 means cancer cells have grown but they arenโt spread yet, while stage 3 means cancer cells have grown bigger, even spread to other tissues. Stage 4, the advanced cancer means cancer cells have already grown large and have invaded other organs. For stage 4 cancer, their survival rates differ a lot from 70% to 2% according to their type. In terms of cancer cellsโ structure compared to a normal cellsโ structure, cancer cells have large and sometimes multiple nuclei due to the unbalance in protein which shapes the cells. Unbalance that occurs in cancer cells is the main factor that causes cancer cells to spread itself infinitely.
Why are cancer cells deadly?
While it is true that cancer is a dangerous and scary disease, in 2019, the 5-year survival rate for cancer reached over 70%, which is 16.6% higher compared to the 5-year survival rate in 2005. Then does that mean 70% of the total number of cancer patients are completely cured? No, cancer doesnโt have a complete cure, which means the cells inside your body have enough potential to become cancerous afterward, again. However, if the patient is in remission and cancer cells stop increasing themselves at a certain rate, it can be considered as cancer cured. Medical treatments for cancer such as surgery, medications, or radiation always differ according to the types of cancer but the purpose of them is to shrink a cancer or to stop the progression of a cancer. During the process of a cancer treatment, it is very painful because the solid tumors created due to the cancer cells often press on the bones, organs, and nerves. Treatments can also cause the pain because itโs a treatment for solid cancer tumors, moreover, the treatments have high probabilities for the side effects afterward.
Conclusion
As explained throughout the paragraph, cancer cells are extremely extraordinary cells. Thus, the efforts that scientists and doctors put in to find the treatment that can kill cancer cells and cure people who are suffering from cancer should be even more highly valued. From 1953 when two scientists first fought against cancer cells and saved a patient, until 2022 when over 70% of the cancer patients are able to get proper treatment and survive, medical technology specific to cancer cells have advanced a lot. Studies regarding cancer will surely be worth a lot, and itโll be used to cure more and more patients in the near future, too.
Works Cited
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