The Tumour Cell

Abstract

The basic trait of cancer cell is its property to break the social ecosystem and the commitment to reciprocal collaboration of multicellular living organisms. In this perspective, cancer may be defined as “a disease in which an individual mutant clone of cells begins by prospering at the expense of its neighbors” (Alberts et al. 2008). The main implication of this assertion is that tumour cells have the twofold tendency to escape division control and invade neighbouring tissues as well as colonize at distance. When they merely undergo local expansion, they are classified as benign tumours; but when they infiltrate neighbouring structures, in particular blood vessels and lymphatic channels, they are called malignant tumours. Thus, malignant tumours metastatize and disseminate at distance forming new tumour colonies, which potentially lead to host destruction.