• Question: Don’t cells have like an auto destruct when they become cancer cells? Why don’t they?

    Asked by 674cesk27 to Eoin, Ester, Ildiko, Natasha, Paul, Tom on 7 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Natasha Myhill

      Natasha Myhill answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      In theory, yes! Cells are usually really clever, and if they sense that something is wrong with them, they undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death). And usually this is the case when a cell becomes cancerous. However sometimes when the cell’s DNA is mutated in a way that stops this signal – its like putting ear defenders over the cell, if can’t receive the signal telling it to autodestruct. Then when these mutated cells divide and multiply in number, all of them cannot receive that signal, and a tumour begins to form.

      A lot of scientists are working on drugs and treatments that target these mutations to try and reverse this so the cells can ‘hear’ the signal again. So far, it looks to be a really promising treatment but there is still a lot of work to do on it!

    • Photo: Ester Gil Vazquez

      Ester Gil Vazquez answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      Yes, they do! As Natasha said, when cells are healthy they have mechanisms that enable them to self-destruct if things get complicated. However, cancer cells are too smart and they manipulate these mechanisms to escape cell death. You can imagine them as hackers that can reprogram the cell completely. As a result, you have a type of cell that won’t stop dividing and is resistant to self-destruction (+ many other incredible capabilities). That is why it is so difficult to get rid of cancer…but we are getting closer!

    • Photo: Paul McKeegan

      Paul McKeegan answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      Cells have the ability to self-destruct through apoptosis from very early on – even happens embryos with only 8 or more cells will destroy dodgy ones! This is great for getting rid of cells with weird numbers of chromosomes, for example. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the embryo is in trouble, just that cells are normally very good at making sure they develop correctly.

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