Cell Basics
What are cells?
The most basic unit of life.
What is cancer?
Uncontrolled cell division.
What is a mutation?
A change in a DNA sequence.
What is another name for blood cancer? Where does it start? (BONUS)
Leukemia (+100)
Bone Marrow (+200)
What treatment uses high energy rays to kill cancer cells?
Radiation Therapy
What is the process called where a cell divides to make two identical cells?
Mitosis
What is a tumor?
A clump of cancer cells. Tumors can either be benign or malignant, and may metastasize through the body.
What are tumor suppressor genes?
Genes that slow down cell division or cause apoptosis.
What is the most preventable kind of cancer?
Lung Cancer
What is chemotherapy? Name one class of drug usually involved in chemotherapy. (BONUS)
The use of drugs to kill or stop the growth of cancer cells. (+200)
Alkylating agents. (+200)
What are the stages in which the cell grows in size as it prepares for mitosis?
G1 and G2
Name at least 2 visual differences between cancer cells and normal cells.
1. Darker nuclei
2. Misshapen
3. Variation in size
4. Clusters without boundaries
What are oncogenes? What is a changed form of a normal gene called? (BONUS)
Genes that can cause cancer when mutated or overactive. (+300)
Proto-oncogenes. (+200)
What type of cancer originates from melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells in the skin?
Melanoma
What is targeted therapy?
A type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to target specific molecules, genes, or proteins that are essential for cancer cell growth and survival, but not for healthy cells.
What does the intra-S checkpoint look for? (BONUS for getting two)
DNA Damage (+400)
Bonus: Stalled Replication Forks (+300)
Why do cancer cells lose the ability to regulate their cell cycle checkpoints?
Because mutations in genes controlling checkpoints allow cancer cells to continue dividing even when DNA is damaged or incomplete.
Name one example of a tumor suppressor gene.
Tp53
What type of cancer begins in epithelial cells?
Carcinoma
Describe, briefly, the process of CAR-T Cell Therapy. What does the CAR in CAR-T Cell Therapy stand for? (BONUS)
A sample of an individual's T-cells are taken out of the body, trained to recognize cancer cells, and put back in to better fight cancer. (+400)
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (+100)
______ and _______ regulate the cell cycle.
Cyclins, CDKs
What is angiogenesis? How does it help tumors? (BONUS)
The process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels. (+500)
Promoting the formation of abnormal blood vessels within the tumor allows them to use these vessels to fuel their growth, survival, invasion, and metastasis. (+300)
Explain how a single mutation in a proto-oncogene can lead to uncontrolled cell growth and cancer.
A mutation can convert a normal proto-oncogene into an oncogene, causing it to be permanently active and constantly signal the cell to divide, leading to uncontrolled growth.
What cancer is known as the silent killer, because its symptoms show up very late into the cancer's progression?
Pancreatic Cancer
What is one pitfall of the alkylating agents commonly used in chemotherapy?
They are mostly effective against slow-growing cancers, and don't do much for acute cases.