• Question: What causes cancerous cells to develop?

    Asked by niallthenerd to Naomi, Shane, Eileen, Andrew, Aggelos on 13 Nov 2012. This question was also asked by fionabreen, gracerossiter.
    • Photo: Naomi Elster

      Naomi Elster answered on 13 Nov 2012:

      The simplest way to put it is that cancer cells are normal cells gone wrong.

      We are made up of billions of tiny cells, and these are constantly dividing to make more cells, in order for us to grow, recover from injury, or even just as part of a natural turnover as old cells run out of energy and die to be replaced by new cells. Different cells belong in different places in the body and have different functions – as I learned in my junior cert, different groups of cells working together make up tissues, different tissues working together make up organs, organs working together make up a system, and systems working together make up a human!

      Because we are so well organised, it is really important that new cells are made when they are needed, but it is equally important that they stop being made as soon as there are enough. Normally, a set of genes called tumour suppressor genes, or TSG’s, send a special stop signal to tell cells to stop dividing as soon as there are enough of them. In cancer, special changes in our DNA called mutations happen which switch off the TSG’s. This means that there is nothing to stop cells from dividing and they grow uncontrollably. “Tumour” is actually the scientific name for a group of cells which reproduce quickly and uncontrollably.

    • Photo: Andrew Jackson

      Andrew Jackson answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      Beams of light with high amounts of energy are a major cause of cancer cell development. This is why the UV rays in sunlight do such damage and why its important to wear suncream to block them. X-rays are another form of energy like light that can cause cancer (they are all called electromagnetic radiation – light being a lowish energy form that we can see). The lady who discovered x-rays was called Marie Curie. She was an amazing scientist, but unfortunately she died of cancer arising from working with x-rays all her life. She didnt even know what they were, never mind that they can cause harm.

    • Photo: Eileen Diskin

      Eileen Diskin answered on 18 Nov 2012:

      Cancer cells can develop in a few ways. Sometimes, it just happens naturally – as Naomi explains, we have billions of cells – there are always some dividing, but new ones are replacing them. This is almost always very well regulated – but sometimes this goes wrong and sometimes, too many are being made.

      There are external factors, outside of our body, that can cause this to happen too. You’ve probably heard about things like sunlight, and smoking, as things that can cause cancer to develop. Scientists are still trying to figure some of these things out, so people know what they can do to avoid developing cancer.

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