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A disease that begins when a single cell replicates itself although it should not.

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Cancer

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The process a cell undergoes to make copies of itself. It is normally regulated so that a cell divides only: 1. when more cells are required 2. when conditions are favourable for division

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Cell Division. When is this process normally regulated?

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A cell that divides without being given the go-ahead.

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Cancerous Cell

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Pileup of cells triggered by unregulated cell division. A mass of cell that has no apparent function in the body.

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Tumor

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A tumour that stays in one place and does not affect surrounding structures. Some remain harmless. Others become cancerous. When viewed under a microscope, they consist of orderly growths of cells that resemble the cells of the tissue from which they were taken.

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Benign Tumor Definition. What do they become? When viewed under a microscope, what do they consist of?

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Tumours that invade surrounding structures.

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Malignant or Cancerous Tumor

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When the cells of a malignant tumour can break away and start new cancers at distant locations.

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Metastasis

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1. lymphatic system 2. circulatory system

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Cancer cells can travel virtually anywhere in the body via which 2 systems?

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The lymphatic system collects fluids or lymph lost from blood vessels. The lymph is returned to blood vessels allowing cancer cells to access the bloodstream.

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What does the lymphatic system collect? What happens when the lymph is returned to blood vessels?

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Structures that filter lost fluids. A surgeon removes lymph nodes from a cancer patient undergoing surgery to see if cancer cells are in the nodes.

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What are lymph nodes? Why does a surgeon remove some lymph nodes from a cancer patient undergoing surgery?

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Cancer cells likely have metastasized to other locations in the body.

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What happens if cancer cells appear in the nodes?

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They can gain access to the circulatory system which includes blood vessels to transport the blood and also to the heart which pumps the blood. Once inside a blood vessel, cancer cells can drift virtually anywhere in the body.

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What happens when cancer cells metastasize?

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1. They divide when they shouldn't. 2. They invade surrounding tissues. 3. They can move to other locations in the body.

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In which 3 ways do cancer cells differ from normal cells?

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Certain exposures and behaviours that increase a person's risk of obtaining a disease. General risk factors for virtually all cancers include: 1. excess alcohol consumption 2. high-fat and low-fibre diet 3. increasing age 4. lack of exercise 5. obesity 6. tobacco use

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Risk Factors (6 of them)

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Smoking is the cause of1/3 of all cancer deaths. Cigar smokers have increased rates of: esophagus, larynx, lung, mouth cancers. Chewing tobacco increases the risk of cancers of the cheeks, gums and mouth Non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke have increased lung cancer rates.

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How many cancer deaths is smoking the cause of? Cigar smokers have increased rates of which 4 types of cancer? Chewing tobacco increases the risk of which 3 types of cancer? What do people who do not smoke but who are exposed to secondhand smoke have?

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Substances contained in tobacco smoke. There are 2 known cancer-causing ones. The carcinogens that are inhaled during smoking come into contact with cells deep inside the lungs. Chemicals present in cigarettes and cigarette smoke have been shown to increase cell division, inhibit a cell's ability to repair damaged DNA, and prevent cells from dying when they should.

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Carcinogens. How many cancer-causing ones are there? What do the carcinogens inhaled during smoking come into contact with? What have the chemicals present in cigarettes and cigarette smoke been shown to increase?

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Exposure to the substance must be correlated with an increased risk of cancer. Examples of carcinogens include: 1. asbestos 2. cigarette smoke 3. radiation 4. ultraviolet light 5. some viruses

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What does a substance need to be considered carcinogenic? What are seven examples of carcinogens?

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Programmed cell death during which a cell uses specialized chemicals to kill itself.

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Apoptosis

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They disrupt the transport of substances across cell membranes. They alter many of the enzyme's reactions within cells. They have been shown to increase generation of free radicals.

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What do chemicals in cigarette smoke also disrupt? What do they alter? What have they also been shown to increase?

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They remove electrons from other molecules.

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Free Radicals

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Damages that over time may lead to cancer. Cigarette smoking provides different opportunities for DNA and cell damage that tumour formation and metastasis are quite likely for smokers. People who smoke cigarettes increase their odds of developing almost every cancer.

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What does the removal of electrons from DNA or other molecules cause? What does cigarette smoking provide?

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It is associated with an increased risk of cancers? Plant foods are low in fat and high in fibre. The American Cancer Society recommends eating at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, 6 servings from other plant sources: beans, bread, cereals, grains, pasta, rice.

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What is a High-Fat, Low-Fibre Diet associated with? What is low in fat and high in fibre? What does the American Cancer Society recommend eating?

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They're substances that help neutralize the electrical charge on free radicals and prevent free radicals from taking electrons from other molecules like DNA. Antioxidants may help prevent certain cancers by minimizing Free Radicals that may damage DNA in our cells.

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What are antioxidants? How can antioxidants help prevent certain cancers?

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Regular exercise decreases the risk of cancer because it keeps the immune system working. The immune system can help destroy cancer cells when it can recognize them as foreign to the host body. The immune system is not always able to differentiate between normal cells and cancer cells because cancer cells are your own cells running amok.

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What does regular exercise decrease and why? What can the immune system help destroy and when? What is the immune system not always able to differentiate between and why?

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Obesity is associated with an increased risk of breast, colon, gallbladder, ovary, prostate and uterus cancers. The abundance of fatty tissues has been associated to increase the odds of some cancer types because fatty tissues can store hormones. Fatty tissue has been associated with hormone-sensitive breast, ovarian, prostate and uterus cancers.

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What cancers is obesity associated with? Why has the abundance of fatty tissues been hypothesized to increase the odds of some cancer types? What cancer types has the abundance of fatty tissue been associated to increase?

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Men who want to decrease their cancer risk should have no more than two alcoholic drinks a day, and women one or none. People who both drink and smoke increase their odds of cancer in a multiplicative rather than additive manner. If one type of cancer occurs in 10% of smokers and in 2% of drinkers, someone who smokes and drinks multiplies chances of developing cancer to a rate closer to 20% than 12%.

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Excess Alcohol Consumption. What should men do to decrease their cancer risk? What about women? What happens to people who are both smokers and drinkers?

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Increasing age is associated with cancer because: 1. the immune system's ability to distinguish between normal and cancer cells decreases 2. cumulative damage Carcinogen exposure leads to a higher probability that other carcinogens will mutate genes involved in cell cycle regulation. Because multiple mutations are necessary for a cancer to develop, it takes many years to progress from the initial mutation to a tumour to full-blown cancer. Scientists estimate that most cancers large enough to be detected have been growing for at least 5 years and have around one billion cells.

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Why is increasing age associated with cancer? What does carcinogen exposure lead to a higher probability of?

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When an egg cell is released from the ovary during ovulation, ovary tissue becomes perforated. Cells near perforation site undergo division to heal ovary's damaged surface. These cell divisions may become uncontrolled, leading to tumour growth.

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Why might ovarian cells be more likely to become cancerous than some other types of cells?

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Instead of proceeding in lockstep through the cell cycle, normal cells halt cell division at a series of these.

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Checkpoints

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Proteins survey the cell to ensure that conditions for a favourable cellular division have been met.

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What happens at each checkpoint?

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1. One takes place during G1 2. One takes place during G2 3. One takes place during metaphase

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What are the 3 checkpoints that must be passed before cell division can occur?

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Is cell division necessary? They survey cell environments: Are Growth Factors present? Is the cell large enough? Are sufficient nutrients available?

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Proteins at G1

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Growth factors bind to receptors. If there are enough Growth Factors present to trigger cell division, other proteins check: 1. if cell is large enough to divide 2. if all nutrients required for cell growth are available When growth factors are limited in number, cell division does not occur.

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What do growth factors bind to? What do other proteins check if there are enough growth factors present to trigger cell-division? What happens when growth factors are limited in number?

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Membrane-bound proteins that elicit a response from the cell.

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Receptors

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Other proteins ensure that the DNA has replicated properly and double-check the cell size, again making sure that the cell is large enough to divide.

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G2 Checkpoint

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Proteins present at metaphase verify that all the chromosomes have attached themselves to microtubules so that cell division can proceed properly.

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Metaphase Checkpoint

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The process is halted. When this happens, the cell may die.

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What happens if proteins surveying the cell at any of the checkpoints determine that the conditions are not favourable for cell division?

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Genes.

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What are proteins that survey the cell at the checkpoints coded by?

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cell division is properly regulated.

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When the proteins of the checkpoints are normal...

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When the proteins of the checkpoints are unable to perform their jobs, unregulated cell division leads to large masses of cells called tumours.

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What happens when the proteins of the checkpoints are unable to perform their jobs?

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When the genes controlling the cell cycle are altered/mutated versions of normal genes.

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When do mistakes in cell cycle regulation arise?

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A change in the sequence of DNA. Changes to DNA can change a gene and in turn can alter the protein that the gene encodes, or provides instructions for.

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Mutation

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Cells can no longer regulate cell division properly.

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What happens if mutations occur to genes that encode the proteins regulating the cell cycle?

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Those genes that encode the proteins regulating the cell cycle. Proto means before and 'onco' means cancer. They're located on many different chromosomes that enable organisms to regulate cell division. A wide variety of organisms carry proto-oncogenes, which means that many different types of organisms can develop cancer.

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Proto-oncogenes. What are they? What do onco and proto mean? Where are they located? What does the fact that a wide variety of organisms carry proto-oncogenes mean?

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Cancer can develop when the normal proto-oncogenes undergo mutations and become oncogenes. Oncogenes can overstimulate cell division.

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Oncogenes

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Building growth factors.

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What do many proto-oncogenes provide the cell with instructions for?

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It stimulates cell division only when the cellular environment is favourable and all conditions for division have been met.

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Normal Growth Factor

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Gene involved in many cases of ovarian cancer. It carries instructions for building a receptor protein.

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What is HER2? What does it carry instructions for?

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italicized. not.

answer

Names of genes are ___, while names of the proteins they produce are ___.

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When receptor shape is normal on cell surface, it signals cell's inside to allow division. HER2 gene instructions construct receptor.

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What happens when the shape of the receptor is normal on the surface of the cell? What constructs the receptor?

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functions as if many growth factors were present, even when there are few or none.

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What happens when the receptor protein is mutated?

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They carry instructions for producing proteins that suppress or halt cell division if conditions are unfavourable. They detect and repair DNA damage. They serve as backups if proto-oncogenes have undergone mutations. If a Growth Factor overstimulates cell division, normal tumour suppressor impedes tumour formation by preventing mutant cell from moving through checkpoint.

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What do Tumour Suppressors carry? What do Tumour Suppressor detect and repair? What do Tumour Suppressors serve as back-ups for? What happens if a Growth Factor overstimulates cell division?

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It does not force the cell to stop dividing even though conditions are unfavourable. Mutated tumour suppressors allow cells to override cell-cycle checkpoints.

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What happens when a tumour suppressor protein is not functioning properly? What do mutated tumour suppressors allow for?

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A tumour suppressor that helps determine whether cells will repair damaged DNA or commit suicide if damage is too severe.

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What is p53?

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Mutations to gene that encodes p53 result in damaged DNA being allowed to proceed through mitosis, passing more mutations. Half of all human cancers involve mutations to gene that encodes p53.

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What do mutations to the gene that encodes p53 result in? How many of all human cancers involve mutations to the gene that encodes p53?

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Normal BRCA2 gene encodes a protein involved in helping repair damaged DNA. Mutant BRCA2 gene cannot help repair damaged DNA, which will be allowed to undergo mitosis, passing new mutations onto daughter cells. As more mutations occur, the probability of a cell to become cancerous increases.

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BRCA2 gene - Normal vs. Mutant. What happens to the probability of a cell to become cancerous as more mutations occur?

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Process by which some cancer cells can stimulate the growth of surrounding blood vessels. Cancer cells secrete a substance that attracts and reroutes blood vessels so that they supply a developing tumour oxygen and other nutrients. When tumour has its own blood supply, it can grow at the expense of non-cancerous cells. Because cancer cell growth occurs faster than normal cell growth, entire organs become filled with cancer cells, leading to organ failure or compromised functioning.

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What is angiogenesis? What does the substance that cancer cells secrete do to the blood vessels? What happens when a tumour has its own blood supply? What happens given that cancer cell growth occurs faster than normal cell growth?

question

Normal cells display this property, which prevents them from dividing when doing so would require them to pile up on each other. Cancer cells, conversely, have undergone mutations that allow them to continue to divide and form a tumour.

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Contact Inhibition - Normal cells vs. cancer cells

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Normal cells NEED some contact with an under-layer of cells to stay in place. Cancer cells override this requirement they're dividing too quickly and do not expend enough energy to secrete adhesion molecules that glue the cells together. Once a cell loses its anchorage dependence, it may leave the original tumour and move to the blood, lymph or surrounding tissues.

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Anchorage Dependence - Normal cells vs. Cancer cells. What happens once a cell loses its anchorage dependence.

question

50-70 times. This limits most developing tumours to a cyst, lump or small mole, all of which are benign.

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How many times are most cells programmed to divide? What does this limit most developing tumours to?

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They can achieve immortality by activating a gene usually turned off after early development. This gene activates an enzyme called telomerase that helps prevent the degradation of chromosomes. The chromosomes in normal cells are degraded with age because a cell loses it's ability to divide. The chromosomes in cancer cells are not degraded with age because reactivated telomerase allows the cells to divide without limits.

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How do cancer cells achieve immortality? What happens to chromosomes in normal cells and cancer cells?

question

1. One cell in the ovary acquires a mutation to the HER2 Growth Factor Receptor gene. 2. Cell's descendants divide faster, forming a small benign tumour. 3. Within tumour, the cell undergoes mutation to its BRCA2 tumour-suppressor gene, resulting in BRCA2's inability to fix damaged DNA in cancerous cells. 4. Cells produced by mitosis of doubly mutant cells continue to divide, with damaged DNA, enlarging tumour and producing more mutant cells. 5. Subsequent mutations result in: 1. angiogenesis 2. lack of anchorage dependence 3. lack of contact inhibition 4. reactivation of telomerase enzyme

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Progression from normal ovarian cells to cancerous cells

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The Multiple-Hit Model describes the process of cancer development because multiple mutations are required for the development and progression of cancer. Most cancers are not caused by the inheritance of genes even though cancer is a disease caused by malfunctioning genes. Scientists estimate that 70% of cancers are caused by mutations that occur during a person's lifetime.

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What does the Multiple-Hit Model describe and why? Are most cancers caused by the inheritance of mutual genes? What is cancer caused by? 70% of cancers are caused by what?

question

If ovulation is prevented for periods of time, as it is when a woman is pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking the birth control pill. When an egg cell is released from the ovary during ovulation, some tissue damage occurs. IN the absence of ovulation, there is no damaged ovarian tissue and hence no need for extra cell divisions to repair damaged cells. Because mutations are most likely to occur when DNA is replicating before division, fewer division equal a lower likelihood of the appearance of cancer-causing mutations.

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How is ovarian cancer thought to decrease for many years?

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they show high levels of CA125 protein in blood.

answer

How are ovarian cancers detected?

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The surgical removal of cells, tissue or fluid that will be analyzed to determine whether they are cancerous.

answer

Biopsy

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They do not resemble other cells found in the same tissue; they are dividing so rapidly that they do not have time to produce all the proteins necessary to build normal cells. This leads to the often abnormal appearance of cancer cells as seen under a microscope.

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Malignant or Cancerous Cells - What do they not resemble? What is their division rate like? What does it lead to in terms of the appearance of cancer cells?

question

It is performed if the cancer is located on or close to the surface of the patient's body. (E.g., breast lumps can be biopsied with a needle to determine whether the lump contains fluid and is a noncancerous cyst or whether it contains abnormal cells and is a tumour.) When a cancer cell is diagnosed, surgery is often performed to remove as much of the cancerous growth as possible without damaging neighbouring organs and tissues.

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Needle Biopsy

question

Surgical instrument used to find tissue during biopsy when getting at ovary. Surgeon inserts a small light and scalpel-like instrument through tiny incision above navel. Small camera projects images from ovary onto monitor that surgeon views during surgery. Images show if the tumour is of a different shape, colour and texture from the rest of the ovary and if it's not confined to the ovary's surface.

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What is a laparoscope? What does surgeon insert through tiny incision above navel? What does a small camera project onto a monitor that the surgeon views during a surgery? What do images show?

question

1. abdominal swelling 2. bloating 3. constipation 4. digestion 5. fatigue 6. gas 7. menstrual disorders 8. pain

answer

Symptoms of ovarian cancer

question

CA125 levels are only checked when ovarian cancer is suspected because: 1. ovaries are not the only tissues that secrete this protein 2. CA125 levels vary from individual to individual 3. levels depend on woman's menstrual cycle. Elevated levels mean that cancer has long been developing. By diagnosis time, cancer may be larger, metastasized and harder to treat.

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When are levels of CA125 checked and for what 3 reasons? What do elevated CA125 levels indicate?

question

When chemicals are injected into the bloodstream to kill dividing cells. It involves many drugs because most CA affect only 1 type of cellular activity. Cancer cells rapidly divide and do not repair replication mistakes that lead to mutations. These cells are allowed to proceed through the G2 checkpoint with many mutations.

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What is chemotherapy? Why does it involve many drugs? What happens to cancer cells that rapidly divide?

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Cancer cells can evade chemotherapeutic agents when they undergo certain mutations. Cells resistant to one drug proliferate when the CA clears away the other cells that compete for space and nutrients. Cells with a preexisting resistance to CA are selected and produce more daughter cells with the same resistance characteristics. This requires the use of more than one Chemotherapeutic Agent.

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When can cancer cells evade chemotherapeutic agents? When do cells resistant to one drug proliferate? Which cells are selected and produce more daughter cells? What does this require?

question

One cell per million.

answer

At what rate do cancer cells become resistant according to scientists?

question

A billion cells

answer

How many cells do tumours contain?

question

1000 Resistant Cells.

answer

The average tumour will have close to how many cells?

question

By treating the patient with a combination of chemotherapeutic agents aimed at different mechanisms.

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How can chemotherapy increase the chances of destroying all the cancerous cells in a tumour?

question

Yes. 1. Hair Follicles 2. Cells that produce red and white blood cells 3. Cells that line the intestines and stomach

answer

Are normal cells that divide rapidly affected by chemotherapy? Which 3 types of cells are often destroyed?

question

1. temporary hair loss 2. anemia (dizziness and fatigue due to decreased numbers of red blood cells) 3. lowered protection from infection due to decreases in the number of white blood cells. 4. Diarrhea, nausea and vomiting when damage to the cells of the stomach and intestines.

answer

What are 4 of the effects of chemotherapy?

question

It uses high-energy particles to injure or destroy cells by damaging their DNA, making it impossible for these cells to continue to grow and divide. It is applied directly to the tumour when possible.

answer

Radiation Therapy

question

A typical course of radiation involves a series of 10 to 20 treatments performed after surgical removal of a tumour. Radiation is sometimes used before surgery to decrease tumour's size.

answer

What does a typical course of radiation involve? Why is radiation sometimes used before surgery?

question

Only when cancers are located close to the surface of the body because it is difficult to focus a beam of radiation on internal organs such as an ovary.

answer

When is radiation therapy typically used?

question

Because it damages DNA.

answer

One risk of radiation therapy is an increased likelihood of secondary cancer emerging 5 to 15 years later. Why might this treatment increase cancer risk?

question

Non-invasive procedure. Requires use of high frequency sound waves that cannot be heard. Bounce off tissues. Produce pattern of echoes used to create sonogram picture.

answer

Ultrasound

question

Healthy tissues Fluid-filled cysts Tumours

answer

Which 3 organs all look different on a sonogram?

question

Fluid filled sac. Most often go away without treatment. Large ones need surgical removal.

answer

Cyst. What happens to most cysts? What happens to large cysts?

question

CA125 is a protein produced by ovarian cells. Higher-than-normal CA125 levels indicate that ovarian cells have increased in size or the number associated with the presence of an ovarian tumour.

answer

What is CA125? What are higher-than-normal CA125 levels associated with?

question

No longer suffering negative impacts from cancer.

answer

Remission

Biology Chapter 6.1, 6.4, 6.5 – Flashcards

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