Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions. Cancerous cells just continue to divide giving rise to masses of cells called tumors. Benign tumors normally remain confined to their original location and do not spread to other parts of the body and cause little damage. The malignant tumors, on the other hand are a mass of proliferating cells called neoplastic or tumor cells. Transformation of normal cells into cancerous neoplastic cells may be induced by physical, chemical or biological agents. Ionising radiations like X-rays and gamma rays and non-ionizing radiations like UV cause cancer. Cancer-causing viruses are called oncogenic viruses which have viral oncogenes. The substances to which an immune response is produced are called allergens. The antibodies produced to these are of IgE type. Common examples of allergens are mites in dust, pollens, animal dander, etc. The primary lymphoid organs are bone marrow and thymus. The secondary lymphoid organs provide the sites for interaction of lymphocytes with the antigen, which then proliferate to become effector cells. |
Cancer cells divide without any control due to: |
Presence of contact inhibition between cells No contact between the cells Loss of DNA transcription Loss of contact inhibition between cells |
Loss of contact inhibition between cells |
The correct answer is Option (4) → Loss of contact inhibition between cells Cancer is one of the most dreaded diseases of human beings and is a major cause of death all over the globe. More than a million Indians suffer from cancer and a large number of them die from it annually. In our body, cell growth and differentiation is highly controlled and regulated. In cancer cells, there is breakdown of these regulatory mechanisms. Normal cells show a property called contact inhibition by virtue of which contact with other cells inhibits their uncontrolled growth. Cancer cells appears to have lost this property. As a result of this, cancerous cells just continue to divide giving rise to masses of cells called tumors. |