Cancer Principles Flashcards
What is cancer
A disorder of growth regulation
How many mutations does a normal cell need in order to become cancerous
6-8
What do normal cells need to stay alive in terms of the cell cycle and environment
Signal from ECM to stay alive
No apoptotic signals
Production of more organelles, etc before dividing
What are the two ways a tumor can increase in size
More cell division
Decreased apoptosis
What are the checkpoints that can activate p53
G1 and S - check for DNA damage
Hallmark of cancer - definition
Biological capabilities shared by all tumors
What are the hallmarks of cancer
Ability to resist cell death
Sustained signal to proliferate
Evasion of growth suppressors
Invasion and metastasis activation
Ability to replicate forever
Induction of angiogenesis
Dysregulated cell energetics
Avoiding immune destruction
What are the pre-requisites/enablers of cancer
Genome instability and mutation
Tumor promoting inflammation
Causes cell division due to macrophage and neutrophils releasing reactive oxygen species that cause DNA damage
Driver mutation:
mutations that contribute to the development of a malignant phenotype
What are the classes of normal regulatory genes
Growth promoting proto-oncogenes
Growth-inhibiting tumor suppressor genes
Genes that regulate apoptosis
Genes involved in DNA repair
When can the cell cycle be controlled by extracellular signals
During G1, before R
How do tumor cells gebrate most of their ATP
Glycolysis
