Cell Haematology and Proliferation - Essay Example

Once the mechanisms fail and the cells reproduce without control, cancers are the result of a deadly organism as a whole. (Mutimer, 2000, p. 59) Proliferation can be understood by two characteristics 1) Cell growth and 2) Cell division. Both occur as a result of an increment in several cells.

            Proliferation, as appropriate within the study of cancer, refers to an autonomous process of growth and spread, internally driven but externally controlled. The danger arises when the controls fail and the natural proliferation of cells produces excessive reproduction.

Cell ‘differentiation’ according to Cancerpage.com is defined as “a process during which

Young, immature (unspecialized) cells take on individual characteristics and reach their mature (specialized) form and function”. (Cancer2006) Dr. Anderson describes that “correct differentiation of embryonic cells is essential to structure the cells associated with the complex environment of the embryo. Failing to replicate the full range of normal developmental signals is likely to have disastrous consequences. Providing some but not all of the factors required for embryonic stem cell differentiation could readily generate cells that appear to be normal (based on the limited knowledge scientists have of what constitutes a “normal cell type”) but are quite abnormal”. (Condic, 2002)

Maureen (2002) in her article further talks about differentiation in terms of differentiated cells that transplant incompletely while running the serious risk of introducing cells with abnormal properties into patients. According to Maureen (2002), “This is of particular concern in light of the enormous tumor-forming potential of embryonic stem cells. If only one out of a million transplanted cells somehow fails to receive the correct signals for differentiation, patients could be given a small number of fully undifferentiated embryonic stem cells as part of a treatment. Even in very small numbers, embryonic stem cells produce teratomas, rapidly growing, and frequently lethal tumors. No currently available level of quality control would be sufficient to guarantee that we could prevent this very real and horrific possibility”.  (Condic, 2002)

The term ‘Self-renewal’ refers to those embryonic cells that make several identical copies of themselves. “Both differentiation and self-renewal are guided by an elaborately regulated genetic program, which transforms embryonic stem cells into the many different cell types that make up the body. Adult stem cells share the hallmark trait of self-renewal, but are relatively rare: in bone marrow, the source of hematopoietic, or blood-forming, only an estimated one in 10,000–15,000 cells is an adult hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)”. (PLUS, 2004)