Tumor Formation (Nursing)

00:01 So what are some of the factors that are going to influence cell division? So there are multiple factors that that will tell a cell it needs to divide.

00:12 There are some external factors such as growth factors that trigger the production or stimulate cell division and there are also factors such as platelet-derived growth factor, or PDGF which are going to stimulate the production of platelets.

00:31 In all of these different things, what we want is for the cells to divide and create a monolayer.

00:39 So one single layer from most cells, and once we create that monolayer, we don't want the cells to get overcrowded.

00:48 So we will also secrete factor that tell the cells to stop dividing as well Along with that, most of our cells with the exception of things like red blood cells which are gonna flow through our blood vessels and through the plasma in our blood vessels.

01:06 Most of our cells are anchored down to a medium, they are attached to something and in order to divide, they must remain attached to something.

01:16 And so with these two together, density-dependent inhibition and anchorage-dependent cells must grow at an optimal density and be stuck to some type of layer or substratum.

01:32 When it comes to cancer, this process is inhibited.

01:37 So in cancer cells, either they lose their density-dependence or they lose their anchorage-dependence.

01:45 This allows for tumor formation to occur because the cells are now allowing themselves to just start growing on top of each other whereas they normally wouln't do that.

01:55 And as well, this allows for malignancy because now cells are no longer required to be stuck to a substratum and they can now flow to other parts of the body where then they form tumors in other parts of the body.

02:10 And so here's just an example of how this works.

02:14 Again, you have anchorage-dependents where the cells must be in a surface in order to divide.

02:19 And you have density-dependents where the cells do not not allow themselves to overcrowd.

02:25 They form a single layer and after that, they say "stop dividing".

02:32 So cancer cells do not actually follow these rules.

02:36 And your cancer cells instead of a responding normally to these control mechanisms such as density-dependents and anchorage-dependents, they just do what they want to do.

02:46 On top of that, they also may not need growth factors to grow and divide so therefore they are able to ignore these control mechanisms.

02:56 Sometimes cancer cells are able to make their own growth factors, or they're able to convey the signal of a growth factor without the growth factor actually being present.

03:08 And then finally, sometimes they have an abnormal cell cycle control system So remember, back on the previous slide when I said that we have that prep stage of the interface where we prepare to divide, Well, something happens there that even when they proofread and realize it's wrong instead of fixing it, they just keep going and allow the wrong thing to be just replicated over and over and over and therefore we continue producing more and more cancer cells So this is how tumors can be formed.

03:45 So a normal cell can be converted to a cancer cell in a process known as transformation.

03:53 And then, if these cancerous cells are not removed, recognized or removed by our immune system, they can now form these tumors in our otherwise normal tissue.

04:09 If the abnormal cells or the tumor does not move, if it just stays where it's growing and just creates this lump in one place, it is referred to as a benign tumor.

04:24 It is not until a tumor becomes mobile or detaches from its original site and moves to other parts of the body that it's referred to as metastatic.

04:37 In metastasis, we are now taking these abnormal cells and they enter into the cardiovascular system or the lymphatic system and are able to move to other parts of the body where they now are forming tumors and places away from the original site.

04:54 And the more tumors that these formed, then the more problems they begin to cause in the body.