Behavior of HeLa cells and other cancer cells

HeLa cells are very different from other cancer cells but they do share a set of behaviors that classify them as cancer cells. First and foremost, HeLa cells obviously have uncontrolled growth, they jump start their growth by themselves regardless of what's going on around them. Because of this growth, the cancer cells ignore any signals that tell them to stop dividing and expand their numbers. A significant characteristic of HeLa cells and other cultured cancer cells, is that they can exist in conditions that would kill other cells, and adapt to almost any environment. Since they are so powerful, HeLa cells have been known to occasionally contaminate other cell lines used for research.

A possible explanation of the HeLa cells growth behavior can happen in the metaphase during mitosis. During metaphase ensures that the spindles are properly attached to the sister chromatids, but if the spindles are not properly attached the cell cannot continue on through mitosis and causes a mutation which can lead to cancer, Fortunately it is not easy for a normal cell to turn into a cancer cell.