400981 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Cell Growth, Metastasis, Blood Vessel

• School: UWS
• Department: University of Western Sydney
• Course: 400981
• Professor: unknown

Document Summary

Cancers are a large family of diseases that involve abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. A neoplasm or tumour is a group of cells that have undergone unregulated growth and will often form a mass or lump, but may be distributed diffusely. All tumour cells show the six hallmarks of cancer. These characteristics are required to produce a malignant tumour. They include: cell growth and division absent the proper signals, continuous growth and division even given contrary signals, avoidance of programmed cell death, limitless number of cell divisions, promoting blood vessel construction. The progression from normal cells to cells that can form a detectable mass to outright cancer involves multiple steps known as malignant progression. Signs and symptoms appear as the mass grows or ulcerates. The findings that result depend on the cancer"s type and location. Many frequently occur in individuals who have other conditions.