Introduction to Cancer

Question 1

What is Cancer?

Answer 1

A name for a group of diseases characterized by:

• Abnormal Cell proliferation
• Tumour formation
• Invasion of neighbouring normal tissue
• Metastasis

Question 2

What increases risks to developing cancer?

Answer 2

• Smoking
• Alcohol
• Obesity and Weight
• Hormones
• Sun and UV
• Infections and HPV
• Air pollution and radiation
• Inherited genes

Question 3

What reduces risk of cancer?

Answer 3

• Physical activity

- Diet and Healthy eating

Question 4

What are carcinomas?

Answer 4

Cancer that occurs in epithelial tissue

Question 5

What are sarcomas

Answer 5

Cancers in mesoderm cells( Bone and Muscle)

Question 6

What are adenocarcinomas

Answer 6

Cancer found in glandular tissue

Question 7

What is cancer a disease of?

Answer 7

Age- More mutations in the body over time

Question 8

What is surveillance?

Answer 8

Recognition of cancer cells by the immune system

Question 9

What are the two types of mutation?

Answer 9

Germline mutation and Somatic mutation

Question 10

What is germline mutation?

Answer 10

Mutation in the egg or sperm cell and is inheritable.

It increases the risk of developing cancer

Question 11

What is Somatic Mutation?

Answer 11

Mutation in cells in a tissue. Non inheritable but can be passed onto daughter cells.

Question 12

What is the initiation of the development of cancer?

Answer 12

Clonal

Question 13

How do tumours evolve

Answer 13

Sub clonal Selection which allows for a growth advantage and heterogeneity of cells

Question 14

What are the consequence of evolved tumours

Answer 14

Resistance to treatments

Question 15

What are 4 types of carcinogens

Answer 15

Chemical, Physical, inherited, Viral

Question 16

How is there a balance of cell numbers

Answer 16

Balance in cell division and apoptosis

Question 17

What can affect the balance in cell numbers

Answer 17

Mutations in genes that regulate the pathway of division and apoptosis.

Question 18

What are proto-oncogenes?

Answer 18

A normal gene activated to be oncogenic. They stimulate growth and division in a cell.

Question 19

What is a mutated proto oncogene called?

Answer 19

An oncogene

Question 20

What are tumour suppressor genes?

Answer 20

Genes that inhibit growth and tumour formation. They act as braking signals during G1 before S phase in the cycle.

Question 21

What happens if a tumour suppressor gene is mutated?

Answer 21

No normal break and there will be uncontrolled growth of a cell.

Question 22

What do normal cells require to divide?

Answer 22

Growth factors?

Question 23

What are cancer cells not dependent on?

Answer 23

Growth factors, they have mutated to allow uncontrolled growth.

Question 24

What do normal cells respond to?

Answer 24

Inhibitory signals.

Question 25

How do cancer cells evade growth suppressors?

Answer 25

They have mutations which interfere with these inhibitory pathways.

Question 26

What happens when a tumour evades the immune system?

Answer 26

The tumour enters a stage of cancer progression and forms a clinically detectable cancer

Question 27

How does the immune system work to prevent cancer?

Answer 27

Eliminated pathogens such as tumour inducing viruses, and identifies and eliminates tumour cells (Immune surveillance)