Read the passage carefully. Attempt the questions.
In our body, cell growth and differentiation is highly controlled and regulated. In cancer cells, there is breakdown of these regulatory mechanisms. Cancerous cells just continue to divide giving rise to masses of cells called tumors. Benign tumors normally remain confined to their original location. The malignant tumors, on the other hand are a mass of proliferating cells. These cells actively divide and starve the normal cells by competing for vital nutrients. Cells sloughed from such tumors reach distant sites through blood, and wherever they get lodged in the body, they start a new tumor there. This property is called metastasis. Transformation of normal cells into cancerous cells may be induced by physical, chemical or biological agents called carcinogens.
The statement which is correct for cancer cells:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → These cells grow very rapidly, invade and damage the normal tissue
Option (1) These cells grow very slowly invade and damage the blood cells — Incorrect. Cancer cells grow very rapidly, not slowly, because they have lost the controls on cell division. They also invade the normal tissues in general, not only blood cells.
Option (2) These cells grow very rapidly, invade and damage the normal tissue — Correct. Cancer cells have lost contact inhibition, so they grow very rapidly, invade and damage the surrounding normal tissue, and may spread to other parts of the body.
Option (3) These cells grow very slow, invade and manufacture the plasma cells — Incorrect. Cancer cells grow rapidly, and they do not make plasma cells; plasma cells are formed from B-lymphocytes. Cancer cells invade and damage normal tissue.
Option (4) These cells grow very rapidly invade and damage the liver cells only — Incorrect. Cancer cells do grow rapidly, but they are not limited to the liver. They invade and damage the surrounding normal tissues wherever they arise, and can spread to distant sites.
Note: The passage is taken from NCERT. NTA has put lines of the NCERT text together to make it. Most CUET (UG) questions come straight from NCERT, so study the book line by line, including figures and their titles.
NCERT Extract:
Cancer – “… 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. These cells grow very rapidly, invading and damaging the surrounding normal tissues. As these cells actively divide and grow they also starve the normal cells by competing for vital nutrients.”