Exam 1 Flashcards
Why is cancer sorted into stages?
Provide common language descriptions for the patient, family, and medial team.
What is TNM and what does it stand for?
A type of system for cancer staging
TUMOR description, regional lymph NODES, distant METASTASIS
How many stages of cancer are in the TNM staging system, describe them
5 stages. 4 is the highest/worst and 0 is the lowest/best. 0 means cancer just started and not yet invaded nearby tissue. 4 means metastasis has occurred all through the body
Characteristic of Stage 0
Clusters of tumor cells have been identified, they have not invaded nearby or distant tissues yet, and not termed tumor.
T or F: as the cancer stage number increases so does the size of the tumor in the distance the cancer has spread from the origin site
True
Which stage of cancer indicates the tumor has spread to distant parts of the body?
Stage 4 (lV)
When cancer staging could occur (description & term)
After a biopsy is taken, and the doctor has identified cancer cells. If someone is termed to have cancer staging can occur to describe size and the spread of the tumor.
Characteristics of a tumor: in situ meaning
Abnormal cells are present in the body, but if not spread to nearby tissue
Characteristics of a tumor: localized
Cancer is limited to a place where it started with the sign that it has spread
Characteristics of a tumor: regional
Cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs
Characteristics of a tumor: distant
Cancer has spread to distant parts of the body
______ cancers are more aggressive, likely to spread, and difficult to treat than ______ cancers.
High grade, low grade
4 most common types of cancers in males & percentages
Prostate 27.3%, lung 12.0%, colorectal 8.5%, bladder 6.4%
List the 4 most common types of cancers in women & parentages
Breast 30.8%, lung 12.7%, uterine 8.6%, colorectal 8.2%
What type of cancer is associated with the following risk factors: family history, exposure to radon, exposure to industrial and airborne chemicals, HIV, tobacco smoke, vaping, and e-cigarettes
Lung cancer
T or F: most lumps found in breast tissues are benign, non-cancerous, and are not life-threatening, but they should be checked out by healthcare professionals
True
What are the most important risk factors to consider for breast cancer?
Age and family
Which type of cancer is associated with the following risk factors: family history, inheritance of BRCA1/BRCA2 genes, alcohol consumption, tissue density, obesity, reaction exposure, and hormone therapy?
Breast cancer
Symptoms associated with liver cancer
Discomfort in the abdomen/swollen, abdomen, tiredness, or weakness, weight loss for no reason, fever, hard lump on right side just below the rib cage
T or F: pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed in early stages easy to treat and well understood
False
Two examples of in your control risk factors
Physical activity, smoking/drinking
2 examples of out of your control risk factors
Age, family history
What are 3 cancers that vaping/e-cigarettes is a risk factor
Lung cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer
2 symptoms of ovarian cancer
Bloating, pelvic/abdominal pain
____ is the primary form of treatment of colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is _____ treatable and ______ curable
Surgery, highly, often
T or F: there are many symptoms which point towards uterine/endometrial cancer
False
1 in 8 biological men in the US are diagnosed with what cancer?
Prostate
Most lethal type of cancer in biological men
Lung
Most lethal type of cancer in biological women
Lung
The process of cancer staging focuses on what?
The location of the cancer in the body and the size of the cancer
Which highly treatable cancer can start from structures called polyps?
Colorectal cancer
What are the six hallmarks of cancer?
1- Sustaining proliferative signaling
2- evading growth suppressors
3- activating invasion and metastasis
4- enabling replicative immortality
5- inducing angiogenesis
6- resisting cell death
Sustaining proliferative signaling
Traffic light with only green lights
Cancer cells produce an abundance of cell growth factors
Mutations in some cellular proteins, also increase the activity of specific signaling pathways that increase proliferation
These factors and mutations allow cells to divide more rapidly than normal
Evading growth suppressors
Car with no breaks, all brake signals blocked
In a cancer cell, the normal growth suppressors are no longer able to limit cell growth because they are missing or mutated
Activating invasion and metastasis
Any colony spreading for more room
The ability to activate invasion and metastasis allow tumor cells to move to a new site in the body
Once at the new site, a secondary tumor called metastasis can be formed by the proliferation of the cancer cells
Enabling replicative immortality
Rabbits on island with no threat so they can take over
Normal cells have limited number of divisions before they become stalled or undergo crisis (die)
Cancer cells can divide indefinitely usually because they have an increased amount of telomerase, a DNA polymer that LinkedIn, the unique sequences called telomeres on the end of eukaryotic chromosomes
Inducing angiogenesis
Pipeline to supply farmers crops with water
Tumors require nutrients just like normal tissues
Angiogenesis is the generation of new blood vessels to allow uptake of nutrients by tissues, including tumor tissues
Resisting cell death
Two fish in bowl that keep having babies while resisting dying
If cells that should normally be destined to die, resist death and survive this contributes to their cancer phenotype
The resistance happens due to an interference with apoptosis
Apoptosis is a type of cell death in which a series of molecular steps in a cell lead to its death
What are the emerging hallmarks?
Deregulating cellular energetics
Avoiding immune destruction
Deregulating cellular energetics
In addition to changes in cell, signaling pathways, increase proliferation of cancer cells is also due to changes in cell metabolic pathways
Cancer cells use glycolysis even when oxygen is available and have increased glucose transporters to bring in glucose
Avoiding immune destruction
People who have impairments in their immunity are more likely to get cancer
Enabling characteristics
Genome instability and mutation
Tumor promoting inflammation
Genome instability and mutation
A mutation is a change in the sequence of DNA, which can sometimes lead to production of cancer cells
Genetic instability can cause mutations
Some people have genetic predisposition to cancer due to an inherited mutation
Tumor promoting inflammation
Certain types of macrophages can contribute to the development of cancer
These cells can release growth factors, and anti-apoptosis factors
These cells can help tumor cells, invade, and metastasize, and can increase the presence of blood vessels and tumors
T or F: cancer cells can divide indefinitely
True
What is apoptosis?
Series of molecular steps leading to cell death
In cancer cell normal growth suppressors are no longer able to limit cell growth. The normal growth suppressors are ______ or ______
Mutated or inactivated
T or F: some people are likely to get cancer because they inherit a mutation
True
T or F: Tumors contain multiple cell types. The cell types can contribute positively or negatively to tumor development and metastasis.
True
DNA is made out of two strands. One strain is copied _____ and the other strand is copied _____ DNA is always replicated in the ___ to ___ direction
Continuously, backwards, 5’ to 3’
Helicase
Unwind the DNA from a double helix to a single strand
Topoisomerase
Relieves topological stress “tension” during DNA unwinding
DNA Polymerase l
Removed RNA primers and fills the gaps
DNA Polymerase lll
Synthesize DNA
Primase
Adds RNA primers to the three and five strand that sort RNA for DNA synthesis
Ligase
Joining DNA fragments
3 DNA repair mechanisms which allow cells to prevent cancer in accumulation of mutations
Recognize, remove, repair
Sensors
Directly recognize and bind damaged DNA
Transducers
Receives signal from sensors in amplify it to transmit to down signaling molecules
Mediators
Facilitate the interactions between sensors and transducer
Effectors
Directly execute cellular response to DNA damage
What is the region of DNA that repeats the same sequence tens or hundreds of times?
Satellite
What are the building blocks of proteins? If mutations in DNA occur, the protein can change its structure and function.
Amino acids
3 ways cellular genomes can be impacted
Polymerase error
Spontaneous base-switching
Exogenous and endogenous mutagenic agents
Polymerase error
Enzymes are highly efficient, but still cause errors
Spontaneous base-switching
Previously incorporated bases can lose/gain chemical functional groups and change genetic information
Exogenous and endogenous mutagenic agents
Metabolism products, reactive oxygen species, chemicals, UV or x-rays
What is the genetic material that serves as a blueprint for an organism?
DNA
The 3 primary mechanisms cells utilized to fix damaged DNA
DNA repair enzymes- base excision repair in nucleotide excision repair
Repairing DNA adducts- product of a DNA base after reaction with a carcinogen
Error-prone repair mechanism- in response to unrepaired damage DNA the bypass polymerase will try to guess which base to incorporate
Match DNA molecules with correct bases for mRNA code
T-A
A-U
C-G
G-C
What tool is used to inspect chromosomes for structural and replicative abnormalities?
Karyotypes
Oncogene
A cancer inducing gene, a gene that can transform cells by the oncoprotein it encodes
Tumor suppressor gene
A gene that when partially or completely inactive can lead to an increased likelihood of cancer development
A gene who is partial or complete an activation occurring in either the germ line or the genome of a somatic cell leads to an increased likelihood of cancer development
In the development of cancer, sometimes the K rash gene becomes mutated at position ___
12
Approximately how many cases of cancer is the mutant K-ras present in?
35% of all cancer cases
When the KS gene becomes mutated, the mutant gene transforms into what?
And oncogene
If a protein is encoded by a mutated K-ras gene what does the protein form?
An oncoprotein
Name three types of cancer were the mutant K-ras is commonly found
Lung, colon, pancreatic
What is the function of EGFR?
It is a receptor for the epidermal growth factor EGF
What process occur when the EGFR binds to EGF
EGFR dimerizes and undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation
What are characteristics of the p53 tumor suppressor?
Can eliminate a cell that poses a threat to an organism’s health and viability
Stops the advancement of the cell growth and division cycle
Provides a local response to facilitate damage repair in the cell
What is the consequence of apoptosis being triggered by p53?
The cell undergoes, rapid death to protect the organism
The p53 tumor suppressor may stop the advancement of the cell cycle to prevent further ______ of a cell with genetic damage
Proliferation
Which of the three types of cancer is affected by a genetic component?
All three: sporadic, familial, hereditary
List the three types of cancer in order from earliest onset to latest onset
Hereditary, familial, sporadic
If someone is born with a specific genetic mutation and has a strong pattern of cancer within their family tree, which of the three types of cancer, are they likely to be affected by
Hereditary
Most cancer patients (85%) experience, which of the three types of cancer?
Sporadic
Which of the three types of cancer is known to have a clustering effect with families, but is not due to a specific inherited mutation?
Familial cancer
Risk factor associated with sporadic cancer
Age, exposure to environmental carcinogens, hormones, lifestyle
Risk factor associated with familial cancer
Age, exposure to environmental carcinogens, hormones, lifestyle, but they are all shared among family members
What are risk factors of Hereditary cancer?
Genetic mutation, environment, and lifestyle
The least amount of cancer patients 5-7% experience, which of the three types of cancer?
Hereditary
T or F: cancers of the same tissue type like breast cancer, or colon cancer can be labeled as any of the three types, sporadic, familial, or hereditary.
True
What type of testing is performed to determine whether someone is at risk of developing cancer at some point in their life?
Genetic testing
T or F: cancer screenings are used to diagnose cancer
False
What is a goal of cancer screening?
Find signs of cancer before the symptoms appear and try to catch cancer in the early stages
List cancer screening test
Breast cancer- mammogram
Cervical cancer - pap smear
Biopsy
A test used to determine whether a symptomatic person has cancer or another illness. It is a sample of tissue suspected of being cancerous that is removed for testing.
Diagnosis
Identification of disease
Prognosis
An estimate of the treatment outcomes for particular disease
What is a reason a doctor might recommend genetic testing to a patient?
If they have a strong family history, have already been diagnosed with cancer, but there’s evidence to suggest the cancer may have been caused by an inherited mutation
