Question

Why don't cancer cells stop dividing?

Like...whats the cause for its abnormal acts?

Answer 1

It happens due to oncogenic mutations in normal cells which can be due to physical or chemical factors.

Every cell has a cancer gene in deactivated form called as proto-oncgene. In cancerous cells these genes gets activated due to some mutation. Now these cancerous cells do not show contact inhibition and start dividing in an uncontrolled manner. Also the oncogene promotes the cell to release protease and makes the cell anchorage independent (no need of bassal lamina) which aids in metastasis of cancerous cells.