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Cancer cells have unique features that make them "immortal" according to some researchers. The enzyme telomerase is used to extend the cancer cell's life span. While the telomeres of most cells shorten after each division, eventually causing the cell to die, telomerase extends the cell's telomeres. This is a major reason that cancer cells can ...
The hypothesis was postulated by the Nobel laureate Otto Heinrich Warburg in 1924. [3] He hypothesized that cancer, malignant growth, and tumor growth are caused by the fact that tumor cells mainly generate energy (as e.g., adenosine triphosphate / ATP) by non-oxidative breakdown of glucose (a process called glycolysis).
The cancer stem cell hypothesis proposes that the different kinds of cells in a heterogeneous tumor arise from a single cell, termed Cancer Stem Cell. Cancer stem cells may arise from transformation of adult stem cells or differentiated cells within a body. These cells persist as a subcomponent of the tumor and retain key stem cell properties.
The cancer stem cell model, also known as the Hierarchical Model proposes that tumors are hierarchically organized (CSCs lying at the apex [6] (Fig. 3).) Within the cancer population of the tumors there are cancer stem cells (CSC) that are tumorigenic cells and are biologically distinct from other subpopulations [7] They have two defining features: their long-term ability to self-renew and ...
The evolutionary processes do not cease when a population of cancer stem cells arises in a tumor. Cancer treatment drugs pose a strong selective force on all types of cells in tumors, including cancer stem cells, which would be forced to evolve resistance to the treatment. Cancer stem cells do not always have to have the highest resistance ...
In cancer cells, major changes in gene expression increase glucose uptake to support their rapid growth. Unlike normal cells, which produce lactate only when oxygen is low, cancer cells convert much of the glucose to lactate even in the presence of adequate oxygen. This is known as the “Warburg Effect.”
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. Most cells are only visible under a microscope.
Cancers are caused by a series of mutations. Each mutation alters the behavior of the cell somewhat. Cancer is fundamentally a disease of tissue growth regulation. For a normal cell to transform into a cancer cell, the genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation must be altered. [98] The affected genes are divided into two broad categories.