Can a single cell organism develop cancer? Or would cancer take too long to develop during it's life time?

Answer 1

Multicellular life forms (like us) benefit from something called "differentiation". Differentiation is the process which occurs during development of the organism from a fertilized ovum, through sequential stages, to the point where organs are developing which have cells which are now distinctly different from each other and which perform very different jobs. Multicellularity is a pretty fantastic thing, in that cells work together performing different functions, all for the greater good of the collective total organism.

In a multicellular organism, specific cells with specific jobs are collected together into "tissues" and, in turn, into "organs". These cells are described as "terminally differentiated" meaning that the process of them achieving specialization has completed, and they can no longer reproduce and give rise to cells that are differentiated to do anything else. Skin cells for example, will never turn into kidney tubule cells or neurons.

Cancer is a phenomenon in which, during the normal course of cells within a tissue reproducing and replacing themselves, something goes horribly wrong. The genetic material becomes damaged during reproduction, and the result leads to a cascade of changes which eventually creates a lump of cells which have no function at all, reproduce without stopping, usurp resources, invade into surrounding tissue as they grow, and generally do really mean things to the multicellular organism. The process of carcinogenesis (cancer formation) is a sequence of mutations which have some very interesting properties, but this topic is too big for an internet post.

The single celled organism does not have differentiated cells which are packed together into organs, so the idea of cancer just doesn't apply. However, it is possible for genetic alterations to occur, and for the result to yield a significantly changed cellular form. Usually when there is a significant change in the DNA of an organism, it is unable to survive and that cell line dies. Every now and then, the accidental change of DNA turns out to be novel, and perhaps useful. This process is called mutation. When it turns out to be useful, or situationally adaptive, the new cell line may turn out to "out-compete" its predecessors, invading the surroundings in much the way a cancer invades the host tissues.

A good example of this occurring is the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria! Bacteria mutate frequently because they have very high reproduction rates. When an antibiotic suppresses their growth, and when an accident of genetics modifies the bacterial proteins in a way that renders that antibiotic ineffective, there is no longer a reason for that bacterium to be supressed, and it begins to grow rapidly. In effect, this is a mini-step of evolution. The bacteria with the genetic modification are now fit to survive in the antibiotic-laden environment, where the previous bacteria were not.

Although the concept of cancer doesn't really apply to single celled organisms, the concept of mutation does. Mutation, which is at the core of what happens in carcinogenesis, happens frequently in single celled organisms, and sometimes the results can be just as catastrophic as cancer!

Answer 2

No, a single celled organism cannot develop cancer. Cancer is an uncontrollable reproduction of cells that invade normal tissues of the body and disrupt their function. If a single cell were to develop "cancer" it would just mean it reproduces faster than normal. That wouldn't be cancer, it would most likely be an evolutionary advantage (unless it reproduced itself so fast it used up all available resources causing a death to the entire population!)

Answer 3

Not really. It is like comparing chickens and eggs. Cancer, by definition is the out-of-control multiplication of certain cells within an organism. Since a single cell organism is just a single cell, there are no cells inside that could multiply out of control.

Answer 4

no, a single celled organism cannot develop cancer. cancer is promulgated by multiplication of genetically deficient cells (such as those that have been over radiated by x-rays, etc). when a single celled organism multiplied, it would become TWO single celled organisms, the offspring, however, would be cancerous rather than an organism... so essentially, it wouldnt have cancer, it would just be dead.

Answer 5

Yes! Cancer is an oxidizing radical that begins in one cell and then travels to neighboring cells. Once neighboring cells have been oxidized, it forms a mass or tumor. Mitotically speaking, cancer cells replicate themselves 100,000x faster than healthy cells. This is why cancer spreads so quickly and into other body systems.

Answer 6

YES, if your mean from cancer is increasing of the number of an organism beyond of normal state, every organic systems that have DNA ,can have mutation so can become cancerous . . . but really what,s the mean of cancer ? increase of the number of cells that they don,t do their duty ,as we see cancer is definable in possessor of tissue creatures .as for this aspect of the mean of this word ,NO