7.1 Defining Cancer Part 2 Flashcards
What is clonal?
a single cell is responsible for the origin of the cancer
What are leukemias and lymphomas often caused by?
reciprocal chromosomal translocation that can be traced to the same origins
What occurs in chronic myelogenous leukemia?
the c-ABL gene from chromosome 9 breaks off to form a fusion with the BCR genes on chromsome 22
What is the Philadelphia chromosome?
the fusion between the BCR-ABL genes
How many somatic mutations can there be in a cancer cells?
up to tens of thousands
How many mutations are actually responsible for the cancer phenotype?
2-8 genes
What are driver mutations?
the mutations in cancer cells that are responsible for the cancer phenotype
What do driver mutations give to the cancer cells?
growth advantage that allows them to proliferate
What are passenger mutations?
mutations that have accumulated due to a cancer cell not having DNA repair mechanisms
Do passenger mutations contribute to the cancer phenotype?
no
What is the cancer stem cell hypothesis?
there are a subset of proliferative cells that resemble stem cells that give cancer the ability to divide into more cancer cells
What are normal stem cells?
undifferentiated cells in the body
What are some abilities of stem cells?
self-renew
immortal
lack differentiation signals
Where can cancer stem cells arise from?
normal stem cells or somatic differentiated cells that have acquired mutations
