Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman tobacco farmer who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 31 and died a few months after having it diagnosed. Her cells are unique still today because they are immortal.
There are two different types of tumors benign and malignant. Benign tumors are not harmful whereas malignant tumors are, which is what Henrietta lacks had. There must have been enough mutations to her cells that made them continuously divide and form the malignant cervical tumor. Unlike malignant tumors, benign tumors are irregular abundance of tissue that forms when cells in a confined area reproduce at a fast rate. The cells of a benign tumor are derived from normal cells, but change enough to make them passive to the usual controls that regulate growth. (1)
Henrietta Lacks must have had at least one cell that undergone a mutation to make it a cancerous cell which then continued to divide and form a malignant tumor. From there the tumor grew out of control due the her cell's rapid division and then established new tumors (metastases). Because cancer cells are not anchored to one place these cells had the ability to float around her body and spread everywhere. (2)
Cites
1. "Tumor, Benign." Tumor Benign. American Medical Association, 2012. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <http://www.mdguidelines.com/tumor-benign>.
2. "Understanding Cancer." Cancer. BSCS and Videodiscovery, Inc., 1999. Web. 17 Jan. 2015. <https://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih1/cancer/guide/understanding1.htm>.
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