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Related Concept Videos

Cancer02:18

Cancer

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Cancers arise due to mutations in genes involved in the regulation of cell division, which leads to unrestricted cell proliferation. Modern science and medicine have made great strides in the understanding and treatment of cancer, including eradicating cancer in some patients. However, there is still no cure for cancer. This is largely due to the fact that cancer is a large group of many diseases.
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What is Cancer?02:12

What is Cancer?

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Cells and tissues must meticulously coordinate their activities for the normal functioning of the human body. Therefore, they exhibit socially responsible behavior - resting, growing, dividing, differentiating, or dying - for the organism’s benefit. Cancer arises when cells divide uncontrollably and invade other tissues or organs.
Although people have known about cancer for centuries, it was only in 1761 that Giovanni Morgagni of Padua performed a detailed autopsy of...
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Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance02:40

Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance

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Early diagnosis and treatment can often cure cancer. However, even with treatment, residual cells called cancer stem cells (CSC) might remain, often causing tumor recurrence. These cancer stem cells possess the potential for self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation and are often responsible for the therapeutic resistance displayed in most cancers.
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
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Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes01:05

Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes

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Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
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Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

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Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
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Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes01:33

Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes

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Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
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Updated: Oct 21, 2025

Monitoring the Cancer-Immunity Cycle and Exploring Tumor Microenvironment Dynamics
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Monitoring the Cancer-Immunity Cycle and Exploring Tumor Microenvironment Dynamics

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Cell competition, cooperation, and cancer.

Fabio Marongiu1, Samuele Cheri1, Ezio Laconi1

  • 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Italy.

Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.)
|September 9, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Cell competition ensures tissue integrity by eliminating unfit cells. However, the mechanisms driving "winner" cells may be co-opted by cancer, highlighting a link between cell cooperation and disease.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Multicellular organisms rely on cell quality control for functional proficiency.
  • Cell competition is a key mechanism for assessing and maintaining cell fitness within tissues.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the definition of cellular fitness within the context of multicellularity.
  • To investigate the role of cell integration and collaboration in fitness.
  • To examine the relationship between cell competition and the development of neoplastic phenotypes.

Main Methods:

  • Review and discussion of existing evidence on cell competition and fitness.
  • Analysis of the implications of cell competition for tissue integrity and pattern formation.
  • Exploration of the potential hijacking of cell competition machinery by cancer cells.
Keywords:
AgingCancerCell clonesCell competitionCell cooperationCell fitness

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Main Results:

  • Cellular fitness includes the ability to integrate and collaborate within the organismal community.
  • Cell competition normally eliminates cells with disruptive behaviors, maintaining tissue integrity.
  • Winner cells in competition do not inherently possess growth autonomy.

Conclusions:

  • Cell competition acts as a quality control mechanism, selecting for cooperative cellular behavior.
  • While not a direct driver of cancer, cell competition pathways can be exploited by evolving cancer cells.