Carcinogenesis I Flashcards
Describe the properties of malignant cancer cells (5).
- Unresponsive to normal signals for proliferation control
- Dedifferentiated
- Invasive – can grow into neighboring normal tissues, extending the boundaries of the tumor
- Metastatic
- Clonal in origin – all derived from a single cell
What is the multi-step process for carcinogenesis?
While cancer in and of itself is not considered to be. A genetic disease, susceptibility to cancer is often inherited.
Carcinogenesis is a multi-step process characterized by the accumulation of many somatic, genetic alterations or mutations. It has been estimated by analyzing the DNA sequence of micro-satellite repeats in some colon cancers that a tumor has over 100,000 somatic mutations!
Tumor initiation, promotion, conversion and progression are four of these steps.
Carcinogenesis is a multi-step process characterized by _________
the accumulation of many somatic, genetic alterations or mutations.
list the steps of multi-step carcinogenesis: (4)
- Tumor initiation
- promotion
- conversion
- progression
What types of genes are usually mutates in tumor initiations?
- oncogenes
2. tumor suppressors
oncogenes function to
normally stimulate cell proliferation.
When they are mutates, they are activated
Tumor suppressors normally act to
inhibit cellular proliferation. They are deactivated when they are mutated
Mutations in proto-oncogenes, can______,
modify their expression and function, increasing the amount or activity of the product protein.
oncogenes
proto-oncogenes
are the normally quiescent counterparts of oncogenes
when proto-oncogenes mutate, they become
oncogenes
the result of the transition of proto-oncogenes to oncogenes is
that is upsets the normal balance of cell cycle regulation in the cell, making uncontrolled growth possible.
An example of an oncogene
Ras
Mutated members of the Ras family of proto-oncogenes are found in______% of human tumors.
20-30
The chance of cancer cannot be reduced by removing _______ from the genome, even if this were possible, as they are critical for ____________.
proto-oncogenes
growth, repair and homeostasis of the organism
It is only when proto-oncogenes are mutated that_________
the signals for growth become excessive.
Tumor suppressor genes code for _________
anti-proliferation signals and proteins that suppress mitosis and cell growth
Generally, tumor suppressors are _________
transcription factors that are activated by cellular stress or DNA damage.
Often DNA damage will cause the presence of _________
free-floating genetic material as well as other signs, which
will trigger enzymes and pathways which lead to the activation of tumor suppressor genes.
The functions of tumor suppressor genes is to_______
arrest the progression of the cell cycle in order to carry out DNA repair, preventing mutations from being passed on to daughter cells.
An example of a tumor suppressor is _________,
p53
p53 is a
is a transcription factor activated by many cellular stressors including hypoxia and UV damage.
What type of cytogenetic abnormalities are associated with malignancy?
- translocations
2. aneuploidies
Translocations and gene deletions may
activate oncogenes or inactivate tumor suppressors.
For example, chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) is associated with the Philadelphia
chromosome (BCR-ABL)
CML is associated with
philadelphia chromosome (BCR-ABL)