pathophysiology- Chapter 10

elderly's increased risk of cancer

"As you get older, you tend to have more potential exposures and more unhealthy habits," he says. "Some of those things are out of our control. There's exposure to toxins, sun exposure over time. But there's also smoking, inappropriate diet, factors we could eliminate to reduce our risk of getting cancer." These exposures may lead to mutations in cells that may evade the immune system and develop into cancer. "We develop precancerous cells our whole life, but when we are young, our immune system is very strong, and it is able to target those cells and kill them," says Dr. Suzi Kochar, an Endocrinologist at our hospital near Phoenix. "With aging, our immune system weakens and may fail to target some of those precancerous cells."

Describe the characteristics of a cancer cell

#1 - Cancer Cells Remain Undifferentiated #2 - Cancer Cells Lack Normal Cell Signaling Responses #3 - Cancer Cells Contain Abnormal Nuclei #4 - Cancer Cells Have Altered Energy Metabolism #5 - Cancer Cells Induce Vascularization

Explain how tumor markers are used and problems associated with their use.

A substance produced by the body in response to the presence of cancer growth or cancer tissue. Screening a healthy or high risk population for cancer presence, or by monitoring a patient's tumor markers before, during, and after treatment to determine patient prognosis. They lack specificity and increases in tumor marker levels may be caused my nonmalignant reasons.

Differentiate oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes

An important difference between oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes is that oncogenes result from the activation (turning on) of proto-oncogenes, but tumor suppressor genes cause cancer when they are inactivated (turned off). Inherited abnormalities of tumor suppressor genes have been found in some family cancer syndromes. They cause certain types of cancer to run in families. But most tumor suppressor gene mutations are acquired, not inherited.

Explain the basis of cancer prone families

An inherited gene mutation is present in the egg or sperm cell that formed the child. When the egg is fertilized by the sperm, it creates one cell that then divides many times and eventually becomes a baby. Since all the cells come from this first cell, this kind of mutation is in every cell (including eggs or sperm) and so can be passed on to the next generation.

List 2 examples of the common sites of metastases of various cancers

Breast Bone Lung Liver Brain Colon/rectum Liver Endometrium or ovary Lining of abdomen or pelvis Other abdominal organs (uterus, bladder, large intestine) Liver Lung Lung Brain Bone

Summarize the type of changes that can occur in genes that lead to cancer

Cells become cancer cells largely because of mutations in their genes. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/genetics/genes-and-cancer/gene-changes.html

Differentiate between driver and passenger mutations, and

Passenger mutation = a mutation that has no effect on the fitness of a clone but may be associated with a clonal expansion because it occurs in the same genome with a driver mutation. This is known as a hitchhiker in evolutionary biology. Clone = a set of cells that all descend from a common ancestor cell. A new study of mutations in cancer genomes shows how researchers can begin to distinguish the 'driver' mutations that push cells towards cancer from the 'passenger' mutations that are a by-product of cancer cell

oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes pg 237

Proto-oncogenes are genes that normally help cells grow. When a proto-oncogene mutates (changes) or there are too many copies of it, it becomes a "bad" gene that can become permanently turned on or activated when it is not supposed to be. When this happens, the cell grows out of control, which can lead to cancer. This bad gene is called an oncogene. It may be helpful to think of a cell as a car. For it to work properly, there need to be ways to control how fast it goes. A proto-oncogene normally functions in a way that is much like a gas pedal. It helps the cell grow and divide. An oncogene could be compared with a gas pedal that is stuck down, which causes the cell to divide out of control. A few cancer syndromes are caused by inherited mutations of proto-oncogenes that cause the oncogene to be turned on (activated). But most cancer-causing mutations involving oncogenes are acquired, not inherited. They generally activate oncogenes by: Chromosome rearrangements: Changes in chromosomes that put one gene next to another, which allows one gene to activate the other Gene duplication: Having extra copies of a gene, which can lead to it making too much of a certain protein

suppressor genes

Tumor suppressor genes are normal genes that slow down cell division, repair DNA mistakes, or tell cells when to die (a process known as apoptosis or programmed cell death). When tumor suppressor genes don't work properly, cells can grow out of control, which can lead to cancer. A tumor suppressor gene is like the brake pedal on a car. It normally keeps the cell from dividing too quickly, just as a brake keeps a car from going too fast. When something goes wrong with the gene, such as a mutation, cell division can get out of control.

Differentiate between benign and malignant tumors

When a tumor is found, a piece of the tissue is removed and examined under a microscope. This is called a biopsy. It is done to determine if the tumor is noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Depending on the location of the tumor, the biopsy may be a simple procedure or a serious operation

Identify examples of tumor nomenclature

https://quizlet.com/14585021/nomenclature-of-tumors-flash-cards/

Outline and explain the 10 hallmarks that enable cancer progression

pg 236

define clonal proliferation

the selection and reproduction of only one type of cell