Cancer cell division (None)

"Cancer cell division" refers broadly to the uncontrolled and dysregulated progression through the eukaryotic cell cycle that characterizes malignant transformation and tumor growth. This phenomenon results from mutations affecting oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes that regulate checkpoints within the G1/S/G2/M phases—most notably involving proteins such as Rb and p53—which normally ensure orderly replication and prevent propagation of damaged DNA. In cancers, these regulatory mechanisms are bypassed or disabled by genetic alterations including gene amplification, loss-of-function mutations, epigenetic silencing, or viral oncoproteins targeting checkpoint proteins. As a result, cancer cells divide unchecked despite genomic instability—a hallmark feature exploited therapeutically by drugs targeting various components of this machinery such as cyclin-dependent kinases or mitotic spindle apparatus.

Other names

Cell cycle in cancerCancer cell proliferationTumor cell mitosis

Drugs targeting this process act by:\n - Inhibiting cyclin-dependent kinases to block progression through the cell cycle\n - Disrupting microtubule function during mitosis\n - Inducing DNA damage or inhibiting DNA synthesis to trigger apoptosis in rapidly dividing cells