Cancer Flashcards
what is cancer and what is it caused by
cancer is a group of diseases that includes solid tumours at almost any site in the body and leukaemia - it is a disease caused by uncontrolled cell division of abnormal cells
how does cancer develop
normal cells - hyperproliferation of cell population - early adenoma - late adenoma - carcinoma
what are some genetic causes of cancer
smallest are point mutations - change DNA
substitution (missense mutation)
introduce a stop codon (non-sense mutation)
what are the most common genetic altercations recorded in cancer cells
translocations - Chromosomal translocations can result in genes being moved to a more transcriptionally active region of the chromosome, or can result in two genes being recombined into a new gene fusion.
what are some environmental causes of cancer and some examples
biological - Hep B virus (liver cancer) HPV (cervical cancer) H. pylori (stomach cancer) chemical: cigarette smoke (bladder, lung) heterocyclic amines in cooked meat physical: UV in sunlight (skin cancer) x rays (related to leukaemia)
what is the differences between genotoxic and non-genotoxic
genotoxic - carcinogen that damage dna causing mutations
non-genotoxic - induce celll division and dna replication without being mutagenic
what is epidemiology
control studies which compare diseased groups and non diseased groups
how many chemical carnciogens are they in cigarette smoke
over 50
what can you do to avoid cancer
don’t smoke
drink in moderation
avoid too much time in the sun
eat a balanced diet with lots of fruit and veg
maintain a healthy weight and physical activity
what is the highest percentage of cancer deaths due to
poor diet
what’s aflatoxin
its a toxic metabolite in fungus that can grow on crops and causes liver cancer
