How Long Does Cancer Cause Cancer

Cancer is a disorder where the body cells lose the ability to control growth. The cell cycle is a series of stages that happen within a cell that leads to division and duplication of DNA, that eventually produces two daughter cells. The development of this life changing disease occurs in the cell cycle, when checkpoints or regulations are ignored and the cell continues through the cycle. When a cell become damaged, it can lead to major problems.

The cell cycle begins with a phase called interphase, which includes G1, G0, and S, which are smaller stages within. G1 is the first gap phase where the cell increases in size, synthesize proteins, and produce RNA. At the end of this phase, there is a checkpoint, or internal regulator, that makes sure

Cancer is related to the cell cycle because if a cell does not meant the checkpoint requirements and still continues through the cycle, it will become uncontrollable. During the synthesis stage of interphase, while the DNA should be replicating, an error can occur, which will lead to a mutated cell. Proteins that control transcription are often the cause because of the changed sequence. This one mutation can lead to an army of mutated cells. These cells can lead to tumor development and cancer. The P53 is a gene that codes for a protein that suppresses tumors. A tumor suppressor is a gene that protects a cell from one step on the path to cancer. It is extremely important in helping kill cells that could become cancerous. If there is a mutation to this gene, it will stop protecting you from cancer. Proto-oncogenes code for positive cell cycle regulators, but when mutated, turn into oncogenes, or genes that have the potential to become cancerous. Cancerous cells lose their specialized functions and produce more quickly. They ignore signals that tell them when to start and stop dividing. Eventually, they can take over tissues and grow without being regulated. Cancer cells have insufficient internal regulators and also cannot program cell death among mutated cells, this process is called apoptosis. When cancer cells don’t die, they keep dividing instead which can produce tumors, masses of rapidly dividing cells that can damage surrounding tissues. When cancer moves into other parts of the body and forms secondary tumors, it is called metastasis. Tumors that develop can be malignant, cancerous and invade and destroy healthy tissue, or benign, noncancerous and does not invade any other part of the body. Sometimes, cancerous cells can break away from a tumor and enter the bloodstream, which allows them to travel throughout the