MadSci Network: Cell Biology |
Does skin cancer infect your cells? In a word, yes. But cancer is not an “infection” in the same way a cold virus is an “infection”. Cancer is a disease of the cell. Individual cells have scheduled life cycles, unique to their cell type. Damage or age can trigger the normal end of a cell’s life. But, when a cell doesn’t die on schedule, and begins growing in an uncontrolled manner, it can become cancerous. It’s not completely known what will trigger previously healthy cells to become cancer cells, but overexposure to the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight is a known risk factor for skin cancer. UV radiation can damage the DNA of a skin cell. If the damage isn’t enough to kill the cell, the cell may become cancerous or precancerous. This would occur, for example, if the damage was done to the genes controlling the cells life cycle, leaving the cell’s growth and life span uncontrolled. http://www.cancer. umn.edu/page/clinical/skin.html http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/chemistry/chemistry14/chemistry14.html
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