How and why neoplasms occur Flashcards
What are the 5 leading extrinsic risk factors for neoplasms?
- high BMI
- low fruit and veg
- lack of exercise
- tobbaco use
- alcohol use
What are the intrinsic risk factors for neoplasms?
- age
- sex
- hereditary
What are the 3 categories of extrinsic risk factors for neoplasms?
- chemicals
- radiation
- infections
does intrinic or extrinsic factors have a bigger effect on cancer risk?
85% extrinsic
Which chemical is well known to be linked with bladder carinoma?
2- napthylamine from dye manufacturing
What 4 principles about chemical carcinogens does 2- napthylamine illustrate?
- long delay between exposure and malignant neoplasm onset
- risk of cancer depends on total carcinogen dose
- sometimes organ specificity for specific carcinogens
- chemical carcinogenesis involves initiation and promotion
state some industrial carcinogens which have an effect on relevant workers?
- asbestos
- coal tars
- vinyl chloride
What malignancies does asbestos lead to?
mesothelioma
What is the two hit hypothesis?
That both tumour suppressor gene alleles are needed to be mutated in order to cause a neoplasm
What is the significance of the two hit hypothesis with regard to familial cancers?
in familial cancers the first hit is delivered from the germ line so all cells have one allele of the tumour suppressor gene which is faulty. this means they only need one more mutation for initiation of the neoplasm
Name some chemical carcinogens
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, N- nitroso compounds, alkylating agents
name and describe the test which shows that initiators are muatgens while promotors cause proliferation
- ames test
- salmonella which requires histidine and rat liver extract in tubes
- to one tube add mutagens and then culture on agar without histidine
- on other dont add mutagens
- on mutagen and no histidine salmonella agar lots grow as mutate to not need histidine
- on agar with no mutagens few or no colonies grow as lower rate of mutations
What is a procarcinogen and a complete carcinogen?
a procarcinogen is only carcinogenic when metabolised by CYP450 in liver
a complete carcinogen is both an initiator and a promotor
What radiation can cause mutations?
UV light (skin only)
X rays
a, b and y rays
How can radiation damage DNA?
- direct damage (alters bases, single/ ds breaks)
- indirect damage (create free radials)
By what general mechanisms can infections be carcinogenic?
- directly: mutate/ affect genes which control cell growth
- indirectly: cause chronic injury, regeneration causes new DNA mutations due to arise due to replication errors and also act as promotors for preexisting mutations
How does HPV lead to increased risk of cervical cancer?
it expresses E6 +E7 - E6 inhibits P53 which interferes with retinoblastoma protein- both of which are tumour supressor genes - prevents apoptosis. Basically hijacks the cell cycle
How do hep B and C lead to increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma?
cause liver cirrhois
lead to chronic inflammation and regeneration which increases risk of mutation and is also a promotor