Question

Which of the following is not a property of cancerous cells?

Answer 1

The term cancer was derived from the Greek word, Karkinos meaning giant crab. Cancer is a disease in which the affected body cells divide uncontrollably and destroy the surrounding tissues. So option c is correct.

When cells divide or proliferate over time, they are not performing any function. Such cells are called undifferentiated cells. In order to start performing functions, cells differentiate (that is they gain specialised roles). These processes are highly regulated in the body.

In healthy organisms, naturally cell growth gets arrested when two or more cells come in contact with each other. It is a property of normal cells called contact inhibition.

Contact inhibition becomes a powerful anti-cancer mechanism keeping a check on uncontrolled growth of cells. Hence option d is incorrect.

Cancer cell counts increase to a very high number and quickly utilize the nutrients and gases like O₂ in comparison to normal cells. Due to this competition, normal cells starve to death. So option a is correct.

Cancerous cells continue to divide and form a mass of cells called tumors. A tumour is classified into following types based on its ability to undergo metastasis (spreading):

• Benign Tumor - These tumours are localized at a particular location in the body and do not spread to the other parts of the body. Such tumors are generally harmless.
• Malignant Tumor - These tumours are cancerous, meaning that it will grow quickly and spread to other normal tissues of the body. This ability to spread is called metastasis. Usually, cancer cells metastasize when they get into the bloodstream or the lymph nodes and form secondary tumours across various sites in the body.

Hence option b is correct.