Life’s fundamental unit is cell. It is the minute construction of the body which is able to do all life processes. Each and every organ of the body like brain, colon, breast, lungs are made up of special cells that accomplish the functions of the organs especially oxygen transportation, nutrients digestion, waste material excretion, movement, locomotion, thinking, reproduction etc. Injured cells or worn out cells are constantly replaced by the new cells to confirm the proper functioning of the cells and some certain or specific cells must rise in response to the changes in the environment. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) controls the growth of cells, its inheritance and containment. DNA acts as the cell’s brain, it is a molecule which is highly complex and is made up in the cell nucleus. DNA is considered as the blueprint for the cell performance. Chromosomes are present in the DNA which are organized definite sections. Arrangement is in pairs, 23 chromosomes from each biologic parent. Combining the 46 chromosomes more than 100,000 genes are contained. A gene is DNA’s segment that control and regulates the structure of a protein which is essential for growth and development and also for performing many important functions in the body especially chemical.
Cancer reports a vast spectrum of illness that arises from the unrestrained growth of the cells. Normal cells ceaselessly subject to an action that utter if the cell should split, transform or die. Multiplying out of control and not able to acknowledge its own natural limit, the cancer cells can proliferate to those areas of the body where they do not supposed to be the part of.
Several genes mutate or change and the cell becomes faulty. Two different types of gene mutations are there namely, dominant mutation which is due to the deformity in one gene in a single pair. It leads to the consequence that a cell gets a continuous message to replicate. This dominant gene is known as the oncogene (onco - cancer).
The second type includes the recessive mutation, in which both the genes in pair being faulty.
An already faulty cell can even invade a normal tissue from where the cancer start to travel into the bloodstream and to the remote parts of the body, where it constantly divides, by a gene mutation. There are dissimilar ways in which a normal cell can become faulty. When gene part is lost a cell become becomes abnormal.
Viruses can also cause cell to divide abnormally. In such a case, genes may be normal, but the function of protein may not be normal. This is due to the fact that the cancer-producing virus lies in the cell.
In summary, cancerous cells have faults in the functions of normal cells that allow them to multiply, attacking the surrounding tissue and proliferate by the way of lymphatic or vascular systems. These defects are the consequences of gene mutations sometimes generated by contagious virus.
Important terms may include:-
