Final answer:
Cancer cells are characterized by their abilities to metastasize to other parts of the body, induce new blood vessel growth (angiogenesis), avoid programmed cell death, and maintain a high level of genetic instability. These properties enable tumors to grow and spread, making cancer a challenging disease to treat.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cancer cells are characterized by a set of properties that distinguish them from normal cells. These characteristics include the ability to exhibit metastasis, promote angiogenesis, escape signals for cell death (apoptosis), and they tend to be genetically unstable. Metastasis is the process by which cancer cells spread from the original tumor to other parts of the body, forming new tumors called metastases. Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels, which cancer cells can induce to supply nutrients to the tumor. Cancer cells can also avoid programmed cell death, which normally helps regulate cell populations and prevent tumor formation. Lastly, genetic instability in cancer cells leads to a high rate of mutation, which contributes to rapid and uncontrollable division.
The different characteristics of cancer cells, such as metastasis, angiogenesis, and escape from cell death, contribute to tumor growth and the spread of the disease, making it difficult to treat. There are many risk factors for cancer, including genetic predisposition, environmental factors (like carcinogens), lifestyle choices, and exposure to certain chemicals or radiation. It is the accumulation of multiple mutations that typically leads to cancer, which explains why cancer has such a variety of risk factors.