Understanding Cancer
the number of people diagnosed woth cancer each year per 100,000
What is incidence rate?
Cancer is the breakdown of this normal body process
What is cell division?
a mass of cancerous cells that originates in the epithelial layer of skin or withing the lining of internal organs
What is a carcinoma?
fair skin and the BRCA1/2 genes are examples
What are inherited predispositions?
President that signed the National Cancer Act of 1971 and declared the "war on cancer?"
Who was Richard Nixon?
number of people alive at some point after they have been dx with cancer
What is survival rate?
a cancerous tumor's function closely resembles
What is an organ?
a tumor that is NOT deemed cancerous and has NOT invaded nearby tissues
What is a benign tumor?
avoiding sun exposure during peak hours
What is the best way to prevent skin cancer?
accounts for the highest number of cancer deaths each year
What is lung cancer?
the origin of most malignant tumors
What is monoclonal?
Main contributing factor for MOST cases of uncontrolled cell division
What is mutation of genes?
is larger in a cancerous cell than in a normal cell
What is the nucleus?
cancer of the pigmented cells
What is melanoma?
may be used to treat Parkinson's disease, ALS, Alzheimer's, hemophilia, and certain cancers
What is gene therapy?
DNA segments at the end of chromosomes that play a part in cell age
What are telomeres?
a cancer specialist may analyze this cellular component when studying the life cycle of al cell
What is genes?
when cancer has spread to other parts of the body
What is metastasis?
causes 1/3 of all cancers in America
What is smoking?
the treatment needed when cancer has metastasized and the body needs to be treated systemically
What is chemotherapy?
the percentage of men diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime
What is 50%
the two copies of each gene that MOST human cells contain
What are alleles?
in normal cellular process, this gene inhibits cell division
What are tumor-suppressant genes?
the human body system that can recognize foreign cells like cancer cells
What is the immune system?
the treatment often used when cancer is localized and can be isolated
What is radiation?
a chemical or physical agent that interacts with DNA and causes a genetic aleration
What is a mutagen?
when a cancer has NOT spread and is still only found in the tissue of origin
What is in situ?
the phase of tumor development when the mass is considered malignant
What is the invasive stage?
the virus that predisposes women to cervical cancer
What is HPV?
this type of biopsy uses a very thin needle to remove tissue for examination
What is a fine needle aspiration?