Question

How are cancer and mitosis related?

Answer 1

Hint: Cancer is the uncontrolled division of cells without the presence of any growth factors or supplements. They can divide continuously without any check.

Complete answer:
The cell undergoes a 4 stage process to divide itself. The four stages are the $G_1$ phase, S phase, $G_2$ phase, and M phase. $G_1$, S, and $G_2$ stages are collectively called Interphase. It is during the $G_1$ and $G_2$ phase the cell prepares itself and accumulates protein necessary for cell division or M phase while in S phase the DNA replicates itself. All these stages are in order

Mitosis (M Phase) is one of the stages of cell cycle or cell cycle division in which the cell divides into two identical daughter cells. All this occurs in a highly regulated and conserved manner. If the cell has some faulty DNA or other errors then the cell division is stopped by some protein regulators or checkpoints. So the little or no activity of these checkpoints can cause cancer.
Few proteins can positively regulate cell division i.e. they promote the cell division and overactivity of these proteins can also cause cancer.

There are two types of cancer: benign cancer (grows slowly and does not spread) and malignant cancer (grows rapidly, spreads and destroys nearby tissues).

Note: The normal cells generally divide in a finite manner and will stop growth on getting signals from outside. When there is any alteration in the genome of the organism (mutation) then the cells become cancerous.