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Questions and Answers
What are the hallmarks of cancer?
What are the hallmarks of cancer?
- Avoiding immune destruction
- Evading growth suppressors
- Enabling replicative immortality
- Tumor promoting inflammation
- Activating invasion and metastasis
- Genomic instability (mutator phenotype)
- Inducing angiogenesis
- Resisting cell death
- Deregulating cellular energetics
- Sustaining proliferative signaling
What are the steps in a normal cell becoming invasive and metastatic?
What are the steps in a normal cell becoming invasive and metastatic?
- Normal cell undergoes DNA damage
- Failure of DNA repair causing mutation in the genome of somatic cells
- If the mutation causes activation of growth promoting oncogenes or inactivation of tumour suppressor genes, it causes unregulated cell proliferation.
- If the mutation causes alteration in genes that regulate apoptosis, it causes decreased apoptosis.
- In both cases of unregulated cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis, it causes clonal expansion.
- Angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels) and escape from immunity along with additional mutations causes tumour progression.
- The progression of the tumour causes a malignant neoplasm capable of invasion and metastasis.
How do neoplastic cells have unregulated growth?
How do neoplastic cells have unregulated growth?
- Autocrine growth stimulation- abnormal expression of oncogenes (or receptors, proteins, transcription factors) or because of inactivation of tumour suppressor genes (that are supposed to inhibit growth pathways).
- Reduced apoptosis- abnormal expression of genes which inhibit apoptosis (BCL-2)
- Telomerase- repetitive DNA sequences at the end of a chromosome. Telomeric shortening causes restriction in the number of cell cycles. Telomerase prevents shortening.
What is the role of telomerase in neoplastic cells becoming immortal?
What is the role of telomerase in neoplastic cells becoming immortal?
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How does autocrine growth stimulation cause neoplastic cells to become immortal?
How does autocrine growth stimulation cause neoplastic cells to become immortal?
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How is there reduced apoptosis in neoplastic cells?
How is there reduced apoptosis in neoplastic cells?
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What is a tumour suppressor gene?
What is a tumour suppressor gene?
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What are the functions of the tumour suppressor genes like TP53?
What are the functions of the tumour suppressor genes like TP53?
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How can a tumour suppressor gene lose its functionality?
How can a tumour suppressor gene lose its functionality?
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What is an oncogene?
What is an oncogene?
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What are the categories of oncogenes/ oncoprotein?
What are the categories of oncogenes/ oncoprotein?
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What does genomic instability mean at a chromosomal level in neoplasia?
What does genomic instability mean at a chromosomal level in neoplasia?
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How does a normal cell become neoplastic with reference to the genomic level?
How does a normal cell become neoplastic with reference to the genomic level?
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What is a carcinogen?
What is a carcinogen?
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How are carcinogens identified?
How are carcinogens identified?
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What are chemical carcinogen initiators?
What are chemical carcinogen initiators?
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What are chemical carcinogen promoters?
What are chemical carcinogen promoters?
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What is the double hit hypothesis of neoplasia?
What is the double hit hypothesis of neoplasia?
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