cancer cell
Rogue dividing unit
A cancer cell is a cell that has mutated to divide uncontrollably, ignoring the signals that normally regulate growth and death.
Unlike healthy cells, cancer cells can spread to other tissues and form tumors.
The term appears in medical contexts: The biopsy revealed cancer cells in the lymph nodes.
Understanding how cancer cells behave is central to oncology research and treatment.
- tumorAbnormal tissue mass
- malignantHarmfully invasive, often fatal
- stage fourMost advanced disease level
- metastasisCancer spreading beyond origin
- spread like wildfireRapid, uncontrolled transmission
mutation · chemotherapy · oncology · biopsy · carcinoma · growth · divide · spread · lymph · radiation · remission · aggressive · benign · nucleus · proliferate · abnormal · tissue · leukemia
- cellsmitosis, meiosis, plasma membrane, chloroplast, vacuole
- oncologytumor, carcinoma, metastasis, malignancy, oncogene
- cell biologycytoplasm, ribosome, mitochondria, nucleus, organelles
- cell pathologyapoptosis, necrosis, DNA damage, atrophy, senescence