overview

Question 1

what doesn’t get produced in the early stages?

Answer 1

symptoms

Question 2

metastatic cancer

Answer 2

stage 4 cancer when the cancer has spread to at least 1 other organ

Question 3

metastasis

Answer 3

when cells break off from the original tumour and spread to the adjacent tissues or elsewhere in the body via the blood or lymphatic system

Question 4

common symptoms

Answer 4

• coughing
• changes in bowel habits
• bloating
• unexplained bleeding
• lumps
• unexplained weight loss
• stomach or back pain

Question 5

chemotherapy

Answer 5

cytotoxic drugs (toxic to living cells) that inhibit mitosis or dna repair.
the treatment is selective as cancer cells divide more than normal cells however that also affects other cells that develop rapidly such as hair follicles and bone marrow.

Question 6

radiotherapy

Answer 6

high- energy radiation to destroy cancer cells.
aiming a beam of radiation at the tumour ( external radiotherapy) but can also involve delivery of radioactive materials to the site of the tumour.

Question 7

stages of cancer

Answer 7

grade 1 - cancer cells resemble normal cells and are not growing rapidly
grade 2 - cancer cells do not look like normal cells and are growing faster than normal cells
grade 3 - cancer cells look abnormal and grow or spread more aggressively

Question 8

how many types of cancer

Answer 8

200 different types

Question 9

the 4 most common types of cancer

Answer 9

• breast cancer
• lung cancer
• prostate cancer
• bowel cancer

Question 10

causes of tumours

Answer 10

tumour formation is the result of uncontrolled cell division.
mutation in any of the proteins involved in the mechanisms of the cell cycle (progression through the stages is controlled by several enzymes and proteins) can cause it to fail leading to uncontrollable cell division.

Question 11

the two types of genes controlling cell division

Answer 11

• tumour suppressor genes slow down the rate of cell division, help to repair DNA or increase the rate of apoptosis
• proto-oncogenes increase the rate of cell division

Question 12

what can mutations in the tumour suppressor genes lead to?

Answer 12

uncontrolled cell division.
for example. women with a mutation in the BRCA1 tumour suppressor gene have a 60-90% chance of developing breast cancer and 40-60% chance of developing ovarian cancer.

Question 13

what can mutations in the proto-oncogene do?

Answer 13

produces an oncogene (cancer-causing gene).the ras proto-oncogene produces a protein involved in regulation of cell division. mutations in the ras gene can cause AML.

Question 14

factors that increase the rate of mutation

Answer 14

• mutations in the genes that code for enzymes and proteins involve din checking DNA for errors and repairing those errors, or chemical damage to those enzymes and proteins, will increase the number of genes containing ‘wrong’ sequences of DNA bases
• damage to DNA caused by ionising radiation or chemicals in the environment
• biological agents, particularly viruses

Question 15

general risk factors for cancer

Answer 15

• increases with age
• lifestyle factors such as smoking, body mass, diet, level of physical activity, sunlight exposure and alcohol intake
• family history

Question 16

general cancer impacts on physical and mental health

Answer 16

• cause blockages
• changes in the body if they press on the surrounding tissues or organs
• weight loss
• cancer cells have a very high demand for glucose as they respire anaerobically by converting glucose into lactate (doesn’t require oxygen, produces much less ATP) resulting in less glucose available for other cells in the body which can lead to weight loss