April 21, 2025

Sojourner Whalen

11th Grade

Brooklyn Technical High School

Most people have heard of cancer. Your family member might have had it, a friend, or a neighbor. But what is cancer? Cancer is a disease caused by the rapid, unregulated division of one’s cells. Although it is believed by some not to be super common, the American Cancer Society reports that roughly every one in two people will develop some form of cancer throughout their life. In 2021, approximately 1,777,566 new cases of cancer were reported in the US alone. Additionally, in 2024, the NIH estimated that 611,720 people would die of cancer in the US. Evidently, cancer is a prevalent health concern to Americans, not to mention globally. Studying the disease is ever so important.  

Cells are the basis for all living organisms. The human body is essentially a coexistence of many different types of cells that make up every organ, bone, etc. Cellular functions allow one’s body to be healthy and function in a normal manner: cells produce many secretions, such as insulin to regulate blood sugars, and melanin to protect against the sun’s UV rays; cells also replicate through cellular division, which enables people to grow and heal wounds. Cells work hard to maintain homeostasis within the body system, but in some instances,  a cell may cause the opposite. A cell can experience genetic mutations, turning it from a normal cell to the first of possibly many resultant cancerous cells. Such can be caused by genetics, direct consumption of carcinogens (smoking, certain ingredients in processed foods), environmental factors ( toxic fumes in the air, secondhand smoke, excessive UV exposure), and even age, which can affect a person's chances of getting cancer. 

The main differences between cancer cells and normal cells are: Growth and Division, Appearance and Structure, and Communication, starting with growth and division. Normal cells will grow and divide as they’re supposed to. They only start to grow when they receive specific signals when necessary. For example, when normal cells are damaged, they die and need to be replaced. On the other hand, cancer cells will grow and divide without regulation. Instead of listening to the body's signals and stopping at growth checkpoints that are in place in the normal cell cycle, they ignore them and continue to divide uncontrollably. This then causes tumors to begin to form as well as spread the cancer cells to other parts of the body. The second main difference is appearance and structure. Normal cells, when looked at under a microscope, are all relatively the same size and shape and have a singular, regular nucleus. When looking at a cancer cell on the other hand, the cells are typically different sizes and shapes, they also tend to have darker and possibly multiple nuclei because of the increase in DNA (chromatin) due to rapid DNA synthesis to meet the demand needed for rapid cellular division and due to possible extra segments of DNA resulting from genetic mutations. The final difference between the cancer cells and normal cells is communication. Normal cells communicate through chemical signals, many of which travel through the bloodstream. These signals allow the cells to repair tissues as needed and tell other cells how to keep the body in good shape. In comparison, cancer cells do the opposite; instead of communicating through the main chemical signals, they may avoid or block them. They may also produce their own signals and establish their own blood vessels to allow the cancer cells to continue to grow and divide independently from the rest of the body system. 

By understanding the differences between normal and cancerous cells, one can understand more about how cancer works. Normal cells tend to have more structure and order, whereas cancer cells disrupt the body's processes and lead to cancer.