Nokea
A 54-year-old has a diagnosis of breast cancer and is tearfully discussing her diagnosis with the nurse. The patient states, They tell me my cancer is malignant, while my coworkers breast tumor was benign. I just dont understand at all. When preparing a response to this patient, the nurse should be cognizant of what characteristic that distinguishes malignant cells from benign cells of the same tissue type?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The correct answer is D: Different molecular structure in the cells. Malignant cells have alterations in their molecular structure, leading to uncontrolled growth and invasion of surrounding tissues, while benign cells retain their normal molecular structure and do not invade nearby tissues. This distinction is crucial in understanding why malignant cells are cancerous and pose a greater risk compared to benign cells.
Other choices are incorrect because:
A: Slow rate of mitosis of cancer cells - Malignant cells actually have a rapid rate of mitosis, contributing to their uncontrolled growth.
B: Different proteins in the cell membrane - While there may be differences in proteins, the molecular structure is a more fundamental difference between malignant and benign cells.
C: Differing size of the cells - Cell size alone is not a definitive characteristic that distinguishes between malignant and benign cells; molecular structure plays a more significant role.