Unit 8 - Cancer Biology

Question 1

What is cancer?

Answer 1

Malignant growth/tumor, division of abnormal cells.

Question 2

What is a neoplasm?

Answer 2

New growth.

Question 3

What does benign mean?

Answer 3

Non-Cancerous

Question 4

What does malignant mean?

Answer 4

Cancerous

Question 5

What does anaplasia mean?

Answer 5

Loss of cell differentiation.

Question 6

What is pleomorphism?

Answer 6

Variability in size and shape

Question 7

What are carcinomas?

Answer 7

Cancer of epithelial cells. (In situ vs invasive) Stays vs spreads.

Question 8

What are sarcomas?

Answer 8

Cancer of muscle, bone or connective tissue.

Question 9

What are adenocarcinomas?

Answer 9

Cancer of glandular structures.

Question 10

What are lymphomas?

Answer 10

Cancer of the lymphatic system.

Question 11

What is leukemia?

Answer 11

Cancer of the white blood cells.

Question 12

Symptoms of Benign Tumors?

Answer 12

Usually small
Well defined edges
Doesn’t spread
Well differentiated cells (Cells look similiar)

Question 13

Symptoms of malignant tumors?

Answer 13

Large
Non-Defined edges (Poorly demarcated)
Rapid Growing
Hemorrhaging and necrosis
Spreads
Moves
Poorly differentiated cells (All look different)

Question 14

First concept for cancer biology

Answer 14

Cancer is a complex genetic disease, and its MICRO-ENVIROMENT is a heterogenous mixture of cells, both cancerous and benign.

Question 15

Second concept for cancer biology

Answer 15

Cancer is a disease of cumulative GENETIC changes during aging. (Multiple genetic changes over time.)

Question 16

Name a tumor suppressor gene

Answer 16

APC, P53, DCC

Question 17

Name an oncogene

Answer 17

K-Ras (Bad guy) Causes too much proliferation.

Question 18

How does environment help tumor from growing?

Answer 18

Natural killer cells, fibroblasts, b and t cells, anti-tumor macrophages.

Question 19

How does environment help tumor grow?

Answer 19

Grow blood vessels, CAF’s (Fibroblasts) safety net/zone, Pro-tumor macrophages, Immune cell suppressors.

Question 20

10 of the cancer hallmarks

Answer 20

Uncontrolled Proliferation
Evade Tumor Suppressors
Genomic instability.
Replicative immortality.
Induce angiogenesis.
Reprogramming energy metabolism
Resist Apoptosis
Promotes Inflammation
Evades immune destruction
Invasion and Metastasis.