cancer cell
- noun
- /ˈkænsər sɛl/
- Specialized
- Several reports have shown the contribution of curcumin in the sensitization of cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs.
- colorectal cancer cells
- breast cancer cells
- prostate cancer cells
You can explain why some cancer cells respond differently to our treatments.
- You can explain why some cancer cells respond differently to our treatments.
- And we know that cancer cells feed off of sugar.
- You're damaging them just enough so the apoptosis kicks in and the cancer cell self destructs.
- So we think it's because estrogen feeds a breast cancer cell, but it doesn't cause breast cancer.
- So less overall side effects, more toxicity to the cancer cells.
- The catch is that cancer cells also use telomerase on the way to immortality.
- It's dividing and cells rupture and the DNA from those cancer cells becomes accessible in your bloodstream.
- So they make the mRNA be a blueprint for the surface proteins of your cancer cells, not your normal cells.
- And as it turns out, some cancer cells are not able to burn both.
Examples
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You're damaging them just enough so the apoptosis kicks in and the cancer cell self destructs.
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Radiotherapy can be used to destroy the cancer cells and cause the tumor to shrink.
Academic text (2011) -
And as it turns out, some cancer cells are not able to burn both.
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And we know that cancer cells feed off of sugar.
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Now those big white cells are attacking the cancer cells.
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But at the molecular level, cancer cells look and behave quite differently from healthy cells.
Academic text (2003) -
And we've saved millions of lives by killing cancer cells in a more selective way.
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Even when stained, the cancer cells have only subtle visible differences from normal cells.
Academic text (2008) -
In laboratory tests, the devices have been able to target ovarian cancer cells and inject them with therapeutic chemicals.
Academic text (2010) -
Radiotherapy can be used to destroy cancer cells and cause the tumor to shrink.
Synonyms
A cell that grows abnormally and becomes part of a tumor
How Abnormal
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term 'cancer cell' is directly composed from 'cancer' (a disease of uncontrolled cell division) and 'cell' (a microscopic living unit), so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a cell affected by cancer that divides uncontrollably. This noun–noun compounding is a common, cross-linguistic compositional pattern and does not involve idiomatic or metaphorical shift, making the meaning predictable to B1 learners.
Etymology
Cancer cell comes from two words: cancer (an old word from when people thought a spreading lump looked like a crab) and cell (a tiny part of the body). The image of a small part acting like a 'crab' that keeps growing helps explain why cancer cell means 'a cell that divides out of control'.