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Tropenpinguin t1_ir9x89t wrote

Cancer cells don't die. Apoptosis doesn't work, so they divide more and more without old cells dying and making room for new ones.

But the new cells have to go somewhere. They are taking room while there is no room for them and may push against organs, blood vessels etc. They may do their original job like building hormones but also uncontrolled or even stop doing their job altogether. Some can infiltrate other tissue destroying it in the process.

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slouchingtoepiphany t1_ir9z4l9 wrote

This is correct. In addition, cancer cells metastasize and grow tumors in multiple places where they also grow uncontrollably.

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CelisC t1_irc0lcw wrote

This begs the question how cancer cells are treated during autophagy. Is there anything known on this subject?

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Tropenpinguin t1_irc4whq wrote

That's a interesting question and I think I will looks this up in more detail over the weekend, but for now I have this:

As far as I know this subject is still unclear. While autophagy would hinder cancer cells in early stages it also would help in later stages when the tumor gets bigger and the cells need more energy than can be provided (because blood vessels have to grow first). But that seems to differ from cancer type to cancer type, as far as I found (just a quick surface search for now).

There are some studies trying to find how to use autophagy to treat cancer.

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Duros001 t1_ir9vg5p wrote

…we are sort of (exactly) made from cells…they have very important key jobs, and if they stop doing that it’s bad enough, let alone when they screw up, start doing their own thing and refuse to die.

Imagine in a city if a random building just started filling with solid foam, then the buildings next to it did the same (terrible analogy ofc, lol) how long until that street is useless? The section of the city? The whole city? The whole district?

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KingStevoI t1_ir9x9cp wrote

The cells in our bodies are recognized by our body as genuine cells that should be there while foreign bodies generally get recognised and then rejected. Cancer is a mutation of our bodily cells so when our body looks around it only recognizes a pre existing cell that should be there, when In reality it has become infected. This is why the body doesnt fight cancer like other illnesses.

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Hexsae t1_irao8h7 wrote

It isn't simply just a "defect cell". Its a defect cell that's lost its ability to stop dividing and does not know when/how to die. Making more of itself with its own same dna which makes the new cells also unable to stop and die. Keep in mind, these cells don't perform their original job properly (if at all) yet they still require nutrition from the body. Basically, taking up more and more resources.

If you're unlucky, this process can spread to other parts of the body (malignant) and damage organs and tissue (will certainly die if left untreated). If you are lucky, these malicious cells can be confined to a particular area (benign) and can more easily be treated if treatment is deemed necessary.

The reason cancer is still so rampant and not 100% curable in all cases is because there are so many different "types" of cancers (over 100 known!) that react differently to different things. The "stage" of the cancer also plays a big role on how likely treatment can be effective which is why its always important to be on the lookout early on.

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conchimCookCu t1_iralnl4 wrote

you can die if a hugh tumor in your lung break down into thousand smaller pieces and the blood that supply the tumor flood your lung with a enormous amount of blood that prevent you from breathing, or a tumor compress your brain and 'shut down' the center that control your heart beat or breathing and your heart or your lung stop working immediately. Or if there are so many tumor in your body that take all the nutrient that your body need, you may die because there are not enough energy for the normal cell in your body work properly, especially brain cell. So to concluded, you can't die because of cancer, you die because of it's complication

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