You Are a Medical Student Working in a Cancer Research

You are a medical student working in a cancer research laboratory. Your boss has given you samples of cancer cells and blood from a patient. She has told you that the cells have no mutations in any of their signaling molecule proteins (that is, all the proteins are normal) , but that the cells' signaling transduction properties are not normal, causing them to be cancerous. Which of the following could account for the increased cell proliferation in the patient?

A) The cells taken from the patient have more growth factor receptors than normal.
B) The concentration of a signaling molecule in the patient is higher than usual.
C) The cells taken from the patient exhibit a reduced level of signal amplification.
D) None of the other answer options is correct.