Cancer Facts

Cancer Facts - Difference between Normal Cells and Cancer Cells

A human body is made up of several cells. These cells grow in a uniform pattern, divide, and later on, die to be replaced by new cells. When we say that a person is suffering from cancer, it means that the body of the person contains cancerous cells. These cells grow and divide in a divergent manner. If you want to understand cancer facts, you need to be aware about the differences between normal and cancer cells.

Normal Cells

Get reproduced for specific amount: Normal cell stop duplicating after they have doubled 50 to 60 times.

Stay at one place: The normal cells have molecules around them that help them stay in the same neighborhood where they were formed. These cells do not move to other body parts.  Mature or specialized: The normal cell mature after their formation and contain genetic information. Obey signals from other cells: These cells develop in a systematic manner. Every cell duplicates to a limited number, matures and later dies to be replaced by new cells.

Cancer Cells

Continuously get reproduced: The cancer cells keep on duplicating continuously and this uncontrolled duplication later causes cancer. These cells do not self-destruct, in some cases it may self-destruct, but at a very slow rate as compared to their duplication rate. Do not stay at one place: The cancer cells get detached from the place they are formed as they lose the molecules around them. These cell move to the other parts of the body and spread the disease. Immature or do not specialize: These cells reproduce in a haphazard manner. Therefore, most of these cells remain immature and the genetic information in these cells is lost. These cells do not mature like normal body cells.

Do not obey signals from other cells: The cancerous cells do not follow the normal signaling system of the body. They keep on duplicating as the genes that receive signal to stop duplicating has been destroyed or sometimes the genes send the signal to the cell to continue duplicating. Therefore, these cells keep on duplicating hazardously and cause harm to the human body.

The above pointers will help you to understand the differences between cancerous and normal body cells. To know more about cancer, you should go through the overview of cancer types. It is vital to have the knowledge about this disease, so that one can detect it at an initial stage and save life.