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How Tumors Grow

Topic

  • Cell Biology
  • Cell Cycle
  • Cell Communication

Resource Type

  • Videos
  • Animations

Level

High School — AP/IBCollege

Duration

00:01:12
Saved By
13 Users
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View in Spanish

Description

This animation shows how a tumor forms, recruits blood vessels, and enters metastasis.

A tumor consists of cells that are dividing at an abnormally high rate. These cells compete with normal cells for resources and may even invade tissues where they do not belong. As shown in the animation, tumors can recruit blood vessels from surrounding tissues and spread cancerous cells to other parts of the body. Left unchecked, tumors may interfere with the body's normal function, destroy organs, and eventually kill the organism.

Depending on students’ backgrounds, it may be helpful to pause the animation at various points to discuss different features or steps in the progression of the tumor.

This clip is from a 2003 Holiday Lecture Series, Learning from Patients: The Science of Medicine. 

Key Terms

angiogenesis, cancer, cell division, cell growth, metastasis, mutation

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)

Video files meet criteria. Spanish files meet criteria.

Version History

Date Published 02.05.03
Date Updated 06.02.20

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS1.B

AP Biology (2019)

IST-1

IB Biology (2016)

1.1

Vision and Change (2009)

CC2

Materials

Large (MOV) 9 MB
Large (WMV) 9 MB
Small (MOV) 4 MB
Small (WMV) 4 MB
Transcript (PDF) 11 KB
Spanish Dub (Español) (MP4) 20 MB
Transcript - Español (PDF) 193 KB

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