Topic 17

Question 1

Cancer is

Answer 1

the rapid proliferation of abnormal cells that cause biochemical defects

Question 2

Benign Cancer

Answer 2

doesn’t spread to surrounding cells

Question 3

Malignant Cancer

Answer 3

invades surrounding tissue

Question 4

How do we know that cancer is a genetic disease?

Answer 4

susceptibility to cancer can be inherited; this doesn’t mean that an individual WILL get cancer

Question 5

Avoidable Causes of Cancer

Answer 5

DNA Damaging agents (UV & Chemical mutagens) & viruses

Question 6

Why does cancer risk increase with age?

Answer 6

because as cells have been dividing for longer, they collect more errors in the DNA

Question 7

Properties of cancer cells

Answer 7

1. dont respond to signals that control cell division
2. are immortal; dont respond to signals that trigger cell death
3. genetically unstable
4. lost cell cycle control

Question 8

Cell cycle checkpoints

Answer 8

G1, G2, Spindle Assembly

Question 9

Cancer causing genes

Answer 9

oncogenes and tumor repressor genes

Question 10

Oncogenes

Answer 10

a mutant form of a normal gene whose presence causes cancer

Question 11

Tumor Repressor Genes

Answer 11

a gene whose absence causes cancer

Question 12

Difficulties of cancer treatment

Answer 12

1. specificity (can also affect normal cells)
2. different cancers have different underlying causes
3. tumors are heterogeneous
4. cancer develops resistance to the drug