Oncologists (medical doctors who treat cancer patients)routinely take biopsies (samples)of tissue from patients to determine whether the tissue is cancerous or not. What would be the best experiment to do to determine whether cells from the tissue sample are cancerous?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

By adding cells from the tissue sample to a cell culture dish and comparing their growth against a sample of noncancerous cells from the patient, it is possible to determine whether the cells are cancerous or not. Cancer cells will exhibit uncontrolled growth and proliferation compared to noncancerous cells, which will grow at a controlled rate. Counting the number of chromosomes or measuring the amount of DNA in specific phases of the cell cycle may give some indication of whether cells are cancerous or not, but those methods are less effective than observing cell growth in a culture dish. Adding cells from the tissue sample to a rat is ethically questionable and unnecessary when other methods are available.

Oncologists (Medical Doctors Who Treat Cancer Patients)routinely Take Biopsies (Samples)of