Oncology student shows how quickly cancer can grow under a microscope

An oncology student is shocked TikTok with a viral video offering a glimpse of how quickly cancer cells can grow.

The microscope images, shared by Sophie Williams, 23, a final-year PhD student from Nottingham, England, show the rapid development of cancer cells in a laboratory flask. In the video you see how the cells transform from a circular shape with a low count, to doubling the population on the third day and forming colonies on the fourth day.

The video, which has been viewed 5.5 million times under Williams’ TikTok account @philosophyeeeehas horrified viewers. However, Williams assures viewers that the rapid cell growth in the laboratory does not represent the reality of cancer growth in the human body.

She told me Newsweek: “In the labs, cancer has no competition with anything else to grow in a bottle.”

She added: “The media they grow in contains everything the cells need to grow, including glucose, salt, amino acids and serum. All of this is available in the human body, but in smaller quantities, because cancer has to compete with other cells in the human body. Cells also need oxygen to grow. In the labs, cancer has normal oxygen levels and has enough of it to grow.”

“In the body there is less of that oxygen available because it is being used by other cells, so there is about 6 percent oxygen (physoxia). The cancers are also not affected by the immune system in the microenvironment, while they are in the human body.”

In the TikTok video, Williams studied triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease. According to the surveillance, epidemiology and final results (SEER) program, there will be an estimated 310,720 new cases of breast cancer by 2024, representing approximately 15 percent of all new cancer cases.

In an earlier interview with Newsweekbreast radiologist Dr. Anjali Malik emphasized the importance of self-examination for early detection. “They are new masses or lumps,” she said. “Is it mobile or fixed? Does it feel warm? Is there an underlying change? You want to look for any skin changes in the breasts and forearms, any discoloration, any changes in texture, any dimpling or discharge.”

Breast surgical oncologist Dr. Lauren Ramsey spoke with Newsweek about the spread of triple-negative breast cancer in the human body.

“It is a more aggressive form of cancer, meaning it can spread more quickly than other types. We call these cancers ‘triple negative’ because they lack estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) receptors, making them respond less to hormonal therapies,” she said.

Ramsey, the director of breast cancer surgery at John Peter Smith Hospital in Texas, added that the rate at which this particular cancer spreads depends on several factors, including the size, grade and stage of the tumor at diagnosis, as well as the overall health of the patient.

She explained that it is difficult to give a timeline of the growth rate as it depends on several factors, and emphasized the importance of rapid detection.

“If left untreated, it can worsen in two to three months,” she said Newsweek. “In more advanced stages, these cancers can spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, bones or brain, within a few months, especially if not detected and treated early.”

“Early detection and treatment with chemotherapy, surgery and possibly radiation can help control the spread of disease and improve overall survival,” Ramsey added.

Since the TikTok video was posted on October 17, it has received more than 344,000 likes and more than 1,400 comments. One commenter said: ‘This is scary,’ while another wrote: ‘Cancer scares me so much.”

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