Nucleic Acids - Cancer Flashcards
What is cancer?
A malignant growth or tumour resulting from uncontrolled cell division
*An umbrella term
What is the definition of malignant?
Describes a tumour where cells grow in an uncontrolled way and have the ability to invade local tissues and/or spread to distant sites via the blood and lymph system
- I.E. Invasion and metastasis
What is the definition of benign?
does not have the capacity to metastasise and spread
(can still kill e.g. having a mass in the brain)
what is the meaning of tumour?
‘a growth’ - does not mean benign or malignant
What is a neoplasm?
’ new growth’ - umbrella term including benign, malignant or dysplastic cells
What is dysplasia?
abnormal cells with genetic alterations which are not yet cancerous
What are driver mutations?
changes to a gene that will give a cell growth advantage
What role do mutations in tumour suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes in the progression of cancer?
- mutations in tumour suppressor genes are common in cancers
- proto-oncogenes control factors related to cell division, growth and apoptosis. Mutations of this form oncogenes which are cancerous
What are germline mutations?
mutations in gametes which are passed on
what are somatic mutations?
environmental mutations
what are epigenetic changes?
- not due to mutations that affect your nucleotide sequence in DNA
- DNA is packaged/unpacked and combined with proteins which determine whether the gene can be active/inactive
- epigenetic changes are changes to this packaging
What are hallmarks of cancer (10)?
- inducing or accessing vasculature
- genome instability and mutation
- resisting cell death
- deregulating cellular metabolism
- sustaining proliferative signalling
- evading growth suppressors
- avoiding immune destruction
- enabling replicative immortality
- tumour promoting inflammation
- activating invasion and metastasis
What are hallmarks of cancer (10)?
- inducing or accessing vasculature
- genome instability and mutation
- resisting cell death
- deregulating cellular metabolism
- sustaining proliferative signalling
- evading growth suppressors
- avoiding immune destruction
- enabling replicative immortality
- tumour promoting inflammation
- activating invasion and metastasis
Why is it bad if a tumour looks necrotic?
They are very fast growing and if it is necrotic, it means it has outgrown its blood supply - tricks endothelial cells to make blood vessels for them and can co-opt vessels in the tissue
