Unit 1 Review
What is cancer?
A disease characterized by genetic mutations in which cells grow and replicate in an uncontrolled manner
What is the difference between a proto-oncogene and a tumor suppressor gene?
Proto-oncogenes code for positive regulators of the cell cycle
Tumor suppressor genes code for negative regulators of the cell cycle
True of False: cancer cells don't differentiate
True
Why is old age a risk factor for cancer?
The longer someone has been alive, the more time their cells have had to accrue mutations.
True of false: Being born with a cancer mutation means that you will definitely get cancer in your lifetime
False- you are more likely to get cancer (and at a younger age), but other mutations still have to happen for cancer to occur.
What role does p53 play in regulating the cell cycle?
Negative regulator: stops the cell cycle when there is DNA damage.
Give an example of a proto-oncogene and a tumor suppressor gene
Proto-onco: HER2
Tumor suppressor: BRCA1 and BRCA2
What is angiogenesis?
The process of blood vessels growing in response to signals they receive from tissues that need more access to resources.
What is inflammation?
Part of the body's immune response. If activated for prolonged periods of time, it can lead to consistent cell damage.
What are the social determinants of health.
Social factors that affect health outcomes. Examples include access to education, access to healthcare, economic stability, community, etc.
What role do cyclins and CDKs play in regulating the cell cylce?
They are positive regulators: When they are present, the cell moves forward with the cell cycle.
What is the relationship between a proto-oncogene and an oncogene?
Oncogenes are the mutated forms of proto-oncogenes.
How is cancer able to metastasize?
Mutations in adhesion proteins allow them to become detached from their original tissue and spread to other parts of the body by traveling through the cardiovascular and/or lymphatic systems.
List two factors that affect someone's exposure to chemical carcinogens
- Smoking history
- Jobs they work in (construction, mining, chemistry, rubber industry)
What is the end product of meiosis?
Four daughter cells, each with half of the DNA of the original cell.
Why is apoptosis an important feature in cells that are part of a multicellular organism?
Because if a cell is damaged, it is better for the organism if that cell self-destructs instead of continuing to make more copies of itself.
What does the promoter region of a gene do?
Initiates transcription. It does not contain the instructions for the protein, but it affects how quickly the protein gets produced.
Why is cancer considered to be multiple diseases?
Cancer will behave differently depending on the type of cell it originates in, what part of the body it's in, what mutations it has. These factors influence the symptoms someone gets, where it metastasizes to, how quickly it grows, and, ultimately, how it is treated.
Radio waves and x-rays are both a type of electromagnetic radiation. Why can x-rays cause cancer, but radio waves can not?
Radio waves are low energy radiation, so they are not as harmful. X-rays have enough energy to rip DNA strands in half.
Why is access to wealth a risk factor for cancer mortality?
Less wealthy people are more likely to work in jobs that have high exposure to carcinogens. They are also less likely to have access to healthcare, which means that cancer detection gets delayed, allowing the disease to progress for longer.
What is homeostasis?
The process by which organisms maintain a stable set of internal conditions. In a healthy organism specialized cells and the organs they make up work together to maintain homeostasis.
If there was a mutation in a tumor suppressor gene that caused the protein to be produced excessively, why would this NOT result in cancer.
Cancer is the excessive growth and replication of cells. Tumor suppressor genes code for proteins that slow down the cell cycle. If you produce too much of them, the cell cycle would not be able to continue.
What is the tumor microenvironment?
The ecosystem that surrounds a tumor and allows it to thrive. It contains cells, proteins, ligands, and other things that allow the cancer to manipulate it's environment.
How do some strains of HPV cause cancer in people?
They have oncogenes. They insert the oncogenes into the human's genome, which disrupts their cell's ability to regulate the cell cycle.
Eleanor has two brothers with prostate cancer and an aunt and cousin with ovarian cancer. Franklin's great grandfather had liver cancer and his second cousin has lung cancer. Who has a stronger cancer family history and why?
Eleanor because her family members with cancer are more closely related to her and had the same type of cancer (all reproductive cancers).