Final answer:
The immediate consequence of anchorage-independent cancer cell growth is the ability of cells to keep growing in a liquid medium. This disrupts the balance between cell division and cell differentiation and allows cells to keep proliferating even after they have formed a monolayer.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anchorage-independent cancer cell growth refers to the ability of cancer cells to continue proliferating even after they have formed a monolayer. This means that cancer cells can keep growing on top of each other and form multiple layers, unlike normal cells that stop dividing at confluence.
Unlike normal cells, cancer cells do not have contact inhibition and do not form gap junctions or firm adherens junctions. This disrupts the balance between cell division and cell differentiation and allows cancer cells to keep proliferating indefinitely.
The immediate consequence of anchorage-independent cancer cell growth is the ability of cells to keep growing in a liquid medium without a solid surface for attachment.