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Cancer Lectures > Properties of Cancer Cells > Flashcards

Properties of Cancer Cells Flashcards

1
Q

How many people worldwide does cancer affect?

A

1 in 3

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2
Q

What was the cancer incidence in the UK in 2007?

A

297,991

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3
Q

What was the cancer mortality in the UK in 2007?

A

156,723

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4
Q

How many people that get cancer die from it?

A

Only about half

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5
Q

What were the top 4 most commonly diagnosed cancers in the UK in 2007?

A

Breast
Lung
Colorectal
Prostate

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6
Q

What were the top 4 most common causes of death from cancer in the UK in 2007?

A

Lung
Colorectal
Breast
Prostate

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7
Q

Define cancer

A

A group of diseases characterised by an unregulated increase in cell number, and invasion and metastasis

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8
Q

When is a tumour classed as benign?

A

If the neoplastic cells are clustered in a single mass

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9
Q

When is a tumour classed as malignant?

A

Once the tumour cells have undergone metastasis

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10
Q

Cancer is a single disease, true or false?

A

False, it is a group of diseases

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11
Q

How many types of cancer have been classified?

A

> 100 types

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12
Q

In what characteristics do cancers differ?

A 
Tissue of origin
Causal factor(s)
Molecular mechanisms
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13
Q

How are tumour types classified?

A

According to the tissue of origin?

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14
Q

What type of tissue are carcinomas derived from?

A

Epithelial cells

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15
Q

What type of tissue are sarcomas derived from?

A

Mesenchymal cell types

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16
Q

What type of tissue are leukaemias derived from?

A

Haemopoietic cells

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17
Q

What type of tissue are neuroectodermal cancers derived from?

A

Nervous system tissue

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18
Q

What type of tissue are melanomas derived from?

A

Neural crest origin tissues

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19
Q

What type of tissue do the majority of cancers arise from?

A

Epithelial tissues, i.e. carcinomas

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20
Q

Give an example of a carcinoma

A

Small-cell lung carcinoma

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21
Q

Give an example of a sarcoma

A

Liposarcoma

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22
Q

Give an example of a leukaemia

A

Multiple myeloma

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23
Q

Who described the hallmarks of cancer in the year 2000?

A

Weinberg and Hanahan

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24
Q

What are the 4 hallmarks of cancer that contribute to an increase in cell number?

A

Sustaining proliferative signalling
Evading growth suppressors
Enabling replicative immortality
Resisting cell death

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25
Q

What do cancer cells need to do in order to form tumours?

A

They need to become immortal

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26
Q

What are the emerging hallmarks of cancer?

A

Deregulating cellular energetics

Avoiding immune destruction

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27
Q

What are the enabling characteristics of cancer?

A

Genome instability and mutation

Tumour-promoting inflammation

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28
Q

What do the hallmarks of cancer drive?

A

Tumourigenesis

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29
Q

What do the enabling characteristics of cancer promote?

A

Tumour progression

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30
Q

Where can classical and enabling hallmarks be exploited in?

A

Designing cancer therapies

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31
Q

Give examples of epithelial cells

A

Skin

Gut

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32
Q

Give examples of mesoderm cells

A

Bone

Muscle

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33
Q

Give an example of glandular tissue

A

Breast

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34
Q

Give an example of haemopoietic cells

A

Blood

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35
Q

What is the name given to the type of cancer that arises in the glandular tissue?

A

Adenocarcinoma

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36
Q

What percentage of cancers are of epithelial origin?

A

85%

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37
Q

Where are epithelial cells found?

A

Lining external and internal surfaces of organs

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38
Q

What are epithelial cells the targets of?

A

Environmental mutagens

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39
Q

Cancer is a genetic disease, true or false?

A

True

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40
Q

What does cancer result from?

A

Alterations in DNA, i.e. mutations

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41
Q

What does the accumulation of mutations over time underlie?

A

Carcinogenesis

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42
Q

What are genetic changes that occur within a cell responsible for inducing?

A

The hallmarks of cancer

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43
Q

What causes most cancers?

A

Environmental factors, i.e. infectious agents and lifestyle

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44
Q

What happens to the cancer rates in migrants which is strong evidence of the role of environment in cancer incidence?

A

They become similar to those in the local population

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45
Q

The incidence of human cancer does not increase with age, true or false?

A

False, the incidence of human cancer increases with age

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46
Q

What percentage of deaths from cancer worldwide are associated with infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria?

A

~20%

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47
Q

What percentage of deaths from cancer worldwide are caused by environmental factors arising from our lifestyle?

A

~70%

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48
Q

What do DNA repair enzymes do?

A

Fix mutated DNA

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49
Q

What enzymes can cancer cells have defects in?

A

DNA repair enzymes

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50
Q

What do tumour initiators do?

A

Cause damage to DNA

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51
Q

What do tumour promoters do?

A

Do not damage DNA but promote cell proliferation

52
Q

What do inherited defects in repair genes lead to?

A

Cancer susceptibility

53
Q

Give an example of a cancer susceptibility syndrome

A

Li-Fraumeni syndrome

54
Q

What does the cell cycle checkpoint between G1 and S phase check?

A

Have growth factor signals been received?

55
Q

What does the cell cycle checkpoint between S and G2 phase check?

A

Is DNA duplication complete?

56
Q

What does the cell cycle checkpoint between G2 and M phase check?

A

Is the cell ready to enter into mitosis?

57
Q

What does the cell cycle checkpoint between M and G1 phase check?

A

Is mitosis complete?

58
Q

Are cancer cells able to escape cell cycle checkpoints?

A

Yes

59
Q

How are cancer cells able to sustain proliferative signalling?

A

By escaping cell cycle checkpoints

60
Q

What are the 6 main hallmarks of cancer?

A 
Sustaining proliferative signalling
Evading growth suppressors
Enabling replicative immortality
Resisting cell death
Inducing angiogenesis
Activating invasion and metastasis
61
Q

What are the phases of the cell cycle?

A

G1, S, G2, M

62
Q

At what stage of the cell cycle can arrest occur?

A

Between M and G1 phase

63
Q

Why does cell cycle arrest occur in normal cells?

A

To allow for cell differentiation

64
Q

How are cancer cells able to evade growth suppressors and thus evade growth inhibition?

A

By escaping the cell cycle arrest checkpoint

65
Q

What is the Hayflick limit?

A

Normal human cells explanted and grown in culture have a limit in their capacity to proliferate

66
Q

How are cancer cells able to enable replicative immortality?

A

By overcoming the Hayflick limit

67
Q

How many cells need to be present in a tumour to make it first visible on an x-ray?

A

E8 cells

68
Q

How many cells need to be present in a tumour to make it first palpable?

A

E9 cells

69
Q

How many cells need to be present in a tumour to allow it to cause the death of the patient?

A

E12 cells

70
Q

How are cancer cells able to resist cell death?

A

By evading apoptosis

71
Q

What would DNA damage/death signals normally lead to in normal cells?

A

Apoptosis

72
Q

What is the initial cell called in haemopoiesis?

A

Pluripotent haematopoietic stem cell (HSC)

73
Q

What types of cells can be produced during haemopoiesis?

A

Granulocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, erythrocytes, megakaryocytes, T and B cells of the immune system

74
Q

What is leukaemia?

A

A collection of diseases that result from an increase in cell number

75
Q

From which cells does chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) arise from?

A

Pluripotent stem cells

76
Q

From which cells do acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL) and lymphoma arise from?

A

Lymphoid progenitor cells

77
Q

From which cells does acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) arise from?

A

Myeloid progenitor cells

78
Q

Why is the gastrointestinal tract a common site of tumours?

A

Due to a large amount of cell replenishment occurring

79
Q

What is angiogenesis?

A

The development of a blood supply

80
Q

Why do normal cells depend on blood vessels?

A

To supply oxygen and nutrients to the cells

81
Q

Why do cancer cells induce angiogenesis?

A

In order to survive and expand

82
Q

How do normal cells derive the bulk of their ATP?

A

Through oxidative phosphorylation

83
Q

How do cancer cells derive the bulk of their ATP?

A

Through glycolysis (the Warburg effect)

84
Q

Do cancer cells show an enhanced or decreased mutation rate? What does this promote?

A

Enhanced, promoting the formation of malignant cancer

85
Q

Are cancer cells genetically stable or unstable? What does this promote?

A

Unstable, promoting the formation of malignant cancer

86
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the evasion of growth suppressors in cancer cells

A

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors

87
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the avoidance of immune destruction in cancer cells

A

Immune activating anti-CTLA4 mAB

88
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the enablement of replicative immortality in cancer cells

A

Telomerase inhibitors

89
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the sustainment of proliferative signalling in cancer cells

A

EGFR inhibtors

90
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the deregulation of cellular energetics in cancer cells

A

Aerobic glycolysis inhibitors

91
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the resistance of cell death in cancer cells

A

Proapoptotic BH3 mimetics

92
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the genome instability and mutation in cancer cells

A

PARP inhibitors

93
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the induction of angiogenesis in cancer cells

A

Inhibitors of VEGF signalling

94
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the activation of invasion and metastasis in cancer cells

A

Inhibitors of HGF/c-Met

95
Q

Give an example of a therapeutic that targets the tumour-promoting inflammation in cancer cells

A

Selective anti-inflammatory drugs

96
Q

What does cancer result from?

A

Genetic changes to the DNA

97
Q

Some individuals inherit a strong susceptibility to cancer. Give examples of diseases that are cause by rare germline mutations and increase cancer susceptibility in affected individuals

A

Retinoblastoma
Skin cancers
Breast cancer

98
Q

Is there any variation between countries in the incidence of some common cancers?

A

Yes

99
Q

Give an example of a human cancer causing virus and the cancer it causes

A

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)

Causes some hepatocellular carcinoma and some lymphomas

100
Q

Whereabouts in the body does the papillomavirus often infect?

A

The cervix

101
Q

Give an example of a human cancer causing bacteria and the cancer it causes

A

Helicobacter pylori

30% of gastric carcinomas and 100% of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma

102
Q

What are the top 4 lifestyle causes of cancer?

A

Tobacco
Diet
Reproductive hormones
Alcohol

103
Q

Tumour promoters can cause cancers anywhere in the body?

A

No, they often have specific sites of action

E.g. chewing tobacco can cause cancers in the oral cavity

104
Q

Are DNA damaging agents (initiators) diverse or not?

A

They are diverse

105
Q

Give some examples of chemical carcinogens

A

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Aromatic amines
Azo dyes

106
Q

What are the carcinogenic ionising radiations (in descending order of energy release)?

A

Atomic particles
X-rays
Ultraviolet light

107
Q

Give an example of a chemical carcinogen that can act directly on DNA

A

Alkylating agents

108
Q

Give an example of a chemical carcinogen that becomes active after it is metabolised

A

PAH

109
Q

What enzymes convert PAHs to ultimate carcinogens?

A

Cytochrome P-450 enzymes

110
Q

What does exposure to UV cause?

A

DNA damage

111
Q

What do UV photons frequently induce which leads to mutation?

A

Pyrimidine dimers

112
Q

How does ionising radiation damage DNA?

A

Directly or by the production of reactive oxygen species

113
Q

What do reactive oxygen species react with?

A

DNA or other biomolecules to create DNA damage

114
Q

What was the result of the carcinogenic effect of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986?

A

Local inhabitants were exposed to E-1 Gy causing a 2% increase in lifetime cancer risk

115
Q

What test can be used to test for mutagenicity?

A

The Ames test

116
Q

In a single day, how many single strand breaks occur to DNA in one human cell?

A

20,000

117
Q

In a single day, how many alkylating lesions occur to DNA in one human cell?

A

5000

118
Q

In a single day, how many double strand breaks occur to DNA in one human cell?

A

10-20

119
Q

In a single day, how many depurination events occur to DNA in one human cell?

A

10,000

120
Q

In a single day, how many oxidative lesions occur to DNA in one human cell?

A

2000

121
Q

In a single day, how many deaminations occur to DNA in one human cell?

A

600

122
Q

Cells are able to deploy a variety of defenses to protect DNA from attack by mutagenes, give examples of these

A

Physical shielding
Detoxification enzymes
DNA repair enzymes

123
Q

What do repair enzymes do?

A

Fix mutated DNA

124
Q

Give examples of DNA repair enzymes

A

Mismatch repair (MMR) enzymes
Methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) enzymes
Base excision repair (BER) enzymes
Nucleotide excision repair (NER) enzymes

125
Q

What do repair enzymes do?

A

MMR enzymes repair nucleotides of normal structure in wrong positions whereas others repair nucleotides of abnormal structure

126
Q

What do MGMT enzymes do?

A

Remove methyl or ethyl adducts from the O6 position of guanine caused by alkylating agents, e.g. ENU

Cancer Lectures (24 decks)

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