The Intersection of Genetics and Oncology

Question 1

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF CANCER CELLS

Answer 1

Immortality
Rapid growth
Ability to invade and metastasize

Question 2

Malignant tumor

Answer 2

Abnormal group of cells that grows into a recognizable mass and has the ability to invade surrounding normal tissue and metastasize to distant sites

Question 3

Benign tumor

Answer 3

group of cells that are recognizably different from normal cells, often grow more rapidly than normal cells, and form a recognizable mass that does NOT invade surrounding tissues or metastasize to distant sites

Question 4

Hematologic malignancy

Answer 4

(leukemia or lymphoma)—malignant cells arise from the bone marrow or lymph nodes. Leukemic cells circulate in the blood stream and become the predominant circulating white blood cell type. Lymphoma cells may circulate but in smaller numbers

Question 5

Neoplasm

Answer 5

a term to describe all types of tumors

Question 6

Clonal disorder

Answer 6

All cells in a tumor arise from a single cell that has developed abnormal characteristics.

Question 7

How is cancer a “genetic disease”?

Answer 7

• tumors can be caused by infection with transforming viruses bearing specific “oncogenes”
• Cancer predisposition runs in families
• Transfection with DNA from a tumor can transform normal cultured cells into malignant cells

Question 8

How do retroviruses ifect cells?

Answer 8

RNA genome and replicate by reverse transcribing the RNA to DNA and inserting the DNA into the host cell genome

Question 9

What are acute transforming viruses?

Answer 9

They contain a pro-cancer gene that cause cancer with a short latency period -> mutation to an overactive form makes these genes oncogenic.

Question 10

Are viral oncogenes a part of the normal viral genome?

Answer 10

nope, they were acquired by genetic rearrangement during viral genome integration