...BIOLOGY OF CANCER “Cancer affects all of us, whether you’re A Daughter, Mother, Sister, Friend, Coworker, Doctor, and Patient.” Jennifer Aniston INTRODUCTION: A multicellular organism can thrive only when all its cells function in accordance with the rules that govern cell growth and reproduction. Why does a normal cell suddenly become a “rebel,” breaking the rules, dividing recklessly, invading other tissues, usurping resources, and in some cases eventually killing the body in which it lives? To understand how and why cells rebel, we need to understand the normal functions of cell growth and reproduction. From the mid nineteenth century on, research in cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology has provided astonishingly detailed information about the molecules and processes that allow cells to divide, grow, differentiate, and perform their essential functions. This basic knowledge of cell biology has also led to practical discoveries about the mechanisms of cancer. Specific molecules that control the progression of a cell through the cell cycle regulate cell growth. An understanding of normal cell cycle processes and how those processes go awry provides key information about the mechanisms that trigger cancer. Loss of control of the cell cycle is one of the critical steps in the development of cancer. Although cancer comprises at least 100 different diseases, all cancer cells share one important characteristic: they are abnormal cells in which the...
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...Abstract Prostate cancer is one of the major health concerns of the public. Worldwide prostate cancer has affected a big portion of the population and has become an issue for many males all around the world. Prostate cancer refers to the malignant growth of glandular cells located in the prostate. At the age of 85, a man is said to have a 1 in 5 chances of developing prostate cancer sometime in their life. Unfortunately Prostate cancer is a disease that does not give any warning signs when it is growing and so the clinical features of prostate are often nonspecific. Patients with prostate cancer have different types of treatment in which they can accept, there can be various methods such as surgery and theraypy toptions. There are several factors that affect an individual’s prognosis (change of recover) given the fact that the natural history of prostate cancer is dependent on the type of cancer, age, and general health of the patient at the time of diagnosis Introduction The role of the prostate is to add vital nutrients and fluid to the sperm. In the male reproductive system, the prostate is the gland that sits just below the bladder. Its position is located in front of the rectum, surrounding itself around the urethra [1]. It is often described as a relatively small walnut size gland whose position is what can later be the cause of many urinary difficulties that may be experience by many males. The reason is that, when the prostate gland enlarges either...
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...How cancer starts How cancer starts Doctors and scientists now know that each cancer starts with changes in one cell or a small group of cells. Usually, many years before you can feel a lump, or a doctor can see it on a scan, the cells have started to reproduce uncontrollably. You can see from the differences between normal cells and cancer cells that the cancer cell seems to lose a number of vital control systems. This happens because some of the genes in the cell have been damaged or lost. Scientists call this 'mutation'. Genes and mutation Genes are coded messages inside a cell that tell it how to behave. The genes are codes that tell the cell how to make many different proteins. One gene 'codes' for one protein. Proteins are the building blocks that make up a cell. Some proteins act as 'on and off switches' that help to control how a cell behaves. For example, a hormone signal acts on a protein in or on the cell. The protein then sends a signal down a chain of switches. The final signal tells the cell to reproduce by dividing into two. Mutation means that a gene has been damaged or lost. A mutation may mean that too much protein is made. Or that a protein is not made at all. For example, a signalling protein may be permanently switched on. Other proteins, whose job is to control and limit cell division, may be permanently switched off. Something that damages a cell and makes it more likely to be cancerous is called a 'carcinogen'. For example, there are carcinogens...
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...Obesity and Cancer According to the National Institute of Health, nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese (2007). Research suggests that obesity may be the most preventable risk factor of cancer for non-smokers, and many studies are testing for the effects that obesity has in all cancers and at specific cancer sites. It is known that obesity plays a significant role in cancer; however, the knowledge of the relationship to all cancers and the overall health effect of excess weight in terms of total mortality from cancer is limited (Calle, Redriguez, Walker-Thurmond, & Thun, 2003). In this paper I will examine the research available on obesity and its relationship to breast cancer (in post-menopausal women), endometrial, colon, esophagus, kidney, and pancreatic cancers, and briefly mention a few other cancers currently being studied for a possible link to obesity. The rise of obesity in the last 25 years has been most prominent in the United States. It is not, however, limited to the United States; for instance, similar trends are being seen in other developing countries. As it becomes easier to access tasty but unhealthy food options and as physical activity declines, caloric intake is now exceeding caloric expenditure. Genetic factors have been shown to predispose an individual to become obese, but environmental factors are the ultimate cause for the rise of obesity within populations. It is the metabolic consequences of obesity that are...
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...Cancer: Disability Paper Cancer. This single word consisting of six letters can change someone’s life in a heartbeat. Imagine yourself or a loved one sitting in a doctor’s office, awaiting the results to see if cancer is the diagnosis. You’re sitting in silence holding each other’s hand, watching the clock tick slowly before hearing a faint knock on the door. As the doctor walks in, his face says it all and he does not need to say a single word. It’s hard to listen to what he is saying, because all you can think about is, “my life is over,” “this can’t be happening to me,” and “I’m dying”. Those were some of the exact same thoughts my dad was thinking when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer about thirteen years ago. Fortunately for himself and our family, he is now cancer free. At that time of the diagnosis, I was young and did not understand the depth of cancer, and that’s why I decided to write this paper. Cancer doesn’t care about your age, race, or religion, but when it strikes someone you know, it hits home. In the book, “ A World Without Cancer,” Dr. Margaret Cuomo (2012) describes cancer as, “Malignant tumors often look crablike, their irregular extensions resembling crustacean claws” (p.23). What exactly is cancer? There are over 100 different types of cancers such as: breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and kidney cancer, to just name a few. According to the American Cancer Society (2014),” although there are many kinds of cancer, all cancers start because...
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...Cancer Strategy #3: Lack Of Methylglyoxal Causes Cancer... Getting Methylglyoxal Into Cells Puts The Brakes On Cancer Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was the Nobel Laureate in Medicine in 1937 for the isolation and discovery of Vitamin C. Known as the "Father of Nutritional Science", he also discovered iso-flavones and vitamin P. In his last 40 years, he researched the regulatory processes of cell growth, and thereby the regulation of cancer itself. He made a rather amazing breakthrough about cancer. In 1963 the prestigious magazine "Science" published a remarkable article about his research. In it Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi identified two substances, one called Retine, which inhibited cancer growth, and the other called Promine, which promoted cell growth and made cancerous cells grow faster. He explained that these were very small molecules that were highly potent in controlling cell division. His research using mice achieved shrinkage of tumors by increasing the ratio of Retine to Promine with daily injections of Retine. Other researchers obtained similar results. There were no harmful or toxic side effects. In another "Science" article in 1967 he announced that his laboratory had isolated and manufactured Retine, which retards cell growth, in the form of a Carbonyl compound called Methylglyoxal. Again, in animal studies he showed that injecting Methylglyoxal daily into mice with cancer was highly effective. The study was divided up into 5 groups of 20 mice each. Every mouse in the...
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...Lung cancer is the second most spread cancer among women and men after skin cancer. Statics from American Cancer Society shows that 224.210 cases of lung cancer were observed in 2014 among them 116.000 cases in men and 108.210 in women. Lung cancer causes 159.260 deaths in 2014. Older people are in higher risk, 2 out of 3 people who have lung cancer are 65 years old or older than 65. The average age of people diagnosed with lung cancer is 70. Only 2 % of lung cancer cases were in people younger than 45. For man the possibility of lung cancer development is 1 in 13 and for women is 1 in 16. This statistic includes both smokers and non-smokers. The highest risk for lung cancer development has smokers - 80-90% compared to non-smokers - 10-15% who are passive smoker. Passive smokers are people who inhale of smoke from another smoker. Passive smoking causes 3.400 deaths from lung cancer in the United States. The other quite common reason of lung cancer development in the United States is radon gas radiation that generated from radioactive radium. Annually it is leads to 21.000 deaths. It is observed that approximately 1 out of 15 houses in the US have radon level higher than recommended. Air pollution with nitrogen dioxide, sulfate aerosols and other dangerous substances cause 1-2% of lung cancer cases. Genetic inheritance related to polymorphism in chromosomes 5, 6 and 15 provokes 8% of all lung cancer cases. ( American cancer society, 2014) . Lung cancer also called...
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...The Effects of EGCG on Cancer Cells Cell Biology Background Green tea is a very common household beverage and lately it has been the center of research for the fight against cancer. This research, if found to be successful, could be ground breaking for the way our doctors treat patients with cancer. To begin with, researchers have designed techniques that allow them to study cancer stem cells and their progression with and without chemicals. A chemical found in green tea called epigallocatechin gallate or (EGCG) has been found to inhibit cell growth in cancer stem cells. Researchers have found that many intracellular pathways that are vital to the cancer cells growth are inhibited when in the presence of EGCG. Studies show that when cancer stem cells are incubated over time and they are treated with EGCG there is a significant response to the chemical showing the inhibitory effects toward the cells. As stated, “[i]n vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that EGCG affect a wide array of molecular pathways, resulting in inhibition of cell growth, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis [Tang, 1].” The inhibition of cell growth keeps the cancer cell ultimately from growing and regenerating. Green tea has gained its attention by researchers because it is used in just about every household around the globe. It has been used for herbal remedies for thousands of years and it’s shown to have great affects when used in dieting. “The most active constituents of green tea...
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...Melanoma growth cut Noor Al Shadidi Ms. Miller SCI115 2/20/2014 Strayer University Assignment 1: Melanoma growth cut Starving melanoma cells may slow tumor growth: It is still very early days, as the method has only been tested in lab-grown cells. But the researchers, from Sydney's Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney, hope their findings will lead to new drugs that control a range of cancers, including melanoma. Although the melanoma is the least common skin cancer, it is responsible for most of deaths. In Australia, the melanoma skin cancer is the third most common cancer, also Australia has the highest rate of melanoma in the world. The Australian scientists believed the new researches showed that the melanoma skin cancer can be controlled its growth by cutting its food supply. To slow the melanoma skin cancer is by preventing the amino acid glutamine from entering the melanoma cells, unlike normal cells, melanoma and other cancers rely on amino acids rather than glucose for the energy they need to divide and grow. A pump system on the surface of cancer cells is discovered by the scientists which they aim to block with a new class of drugs, according to their article published in the International Journal of Cancer. The topic was mentioned in the book but you can say it has a basic information about the topic, the book didn’t go farther with the topic. Basically the book just explained the process Stages of the evolution of melanoma skin cancer. The book...
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... WHAT IS CANCER? * General Purpose: To inform my audience. * Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about cancer. * Method of Informing: Explanation * Organizational Pattern: * Description of Visual Aid INTRODUTION * Gain the attention of the audience: Did you know that more than 1/2 million people are expected to die of cancer this year? That's more than 1,500 a day. An average of 1/2 of men and 1/3 of women will develop cancer. * Adapt the presentation to yourself-the speaker: * Adapt the presentation to the audience: Cancer can affect anyone, so you can gain something from this speech by being informed about cancer, and how to prevent it. * Establish credibility: * Preview Statement: I will discuss what cancer is, ways to prevent cancer growth, and the different types of treatment for cancer. (Transition: To start off, I will explain what cancer is.) BODY I. Cancer is a condition of uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. a) Cancer begin in cells, the body's basic unit of life. To understand cancer, it's helpful to know what happens when normal cells become cancer cells. b) The body is made up of many types of cells. These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and...
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...Cancer or Neoplasma is the appearance of a tumor. A tumor is an uncharacteristic gathering of a tissue, the enlargement of which is extreme as well as ungraceful and persists even after the cessation of the stimulus which provokes the changes. It is an abnormal mass because the tumor cells are not governed by laws of growth and nutrition. The growth is uncoordinated because cellular proliferation is endless, purposeless and at the cost of nutrition of other parts of the body. The fact that it persists even after the cessation of stimulus, indicate an irreversible alteration in the genetic set-up of the cell. A tumor may be benign (tumor growth rate is slow, constant, remains capsulated and do not undergo infiltration or metastasis) or malignant (tumor growth rate is fast, irregular, uncapsulated and undergoes infiltration or metastasis. 1.1 What is Cancer? Cancer is a disease which occurs when changes in a group of normal cells within the body lead to uncontrolled growth causing a lump called a tumour; this is true of all cancers except leukaemia (cancer of the blood). If left untreated, tumours can grow and spread into the surrounding normal tissue, or to other parts of the body via the bloodstream and lymphatic systems, and can affect the digestive, nervous and circulatory...
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...Cure for Cancer If I could invent a new technology that would change the world, it would be inventing a cure for pediatric cancer. In the future, I plan to become a pediatrician, perhaps furthering my education to become a pediatric oncologist and hematologist. Leukemia, lymphoma and neuroblastoma are the three most common cancer cells that begin growth in children today. The medicine I would create would work to kill off these cancer cells, which would prevent white blood cells from growing uncontrollably. For each disease, there is a different medicine, involving various ingredients. Also, each disease reacts differently to each ingredient, given that we cannot have a single medicine used to cure everything. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia,...
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...| Cancer and Middle Aged Adults | Ways to Prevent Cancer | | | | 8/28/2015 | The causes and risk factors, prevention and detection of cancer and the affects it has on the body and what treatment options are used to help cancer patients | Causes and risk of skin cancer Skin cancer occurs when errors (mutations) occur in the DNA of skin cells. The mutations cause the cells to grow out of control and form a mass of cancer cells. Skin cancer begins in your skin's top layer — the epidermis. The epidermis is a thin layer that provides a protective cover of skin cells that your body continually sheds. The epidermis contains three main types of cells: Squamous cells lie just below the outer surface and function as the skin's inner lining. Basal cells, which produce new skin cells, sit beneath the squamous cells. Melanocytes — which produce melanin, the pigment that gives skin its normal color — are located in the lower part of your epidermis. Melanocytes produce more melanin when you're in the sun to help protect the deeper layers of your skin. Most skin cancers are preventable such as avoiding the sun during the middle of the day. Avoiding the sun at its strongest helps you avoid the sunburns and suntans that cause skin damage and increase your risk of developing skin cancer. Sun exposure accumulated over time also may cause skin cancer. Wear protective clothing and cover your skin with dark, tightly woven clothing that covers your arms and legs, and a broad-brimmed...
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...Leading Edge Review Immunity, Inflammation, and Cancer Sergei I. Grivennikov,1 Florian R. Greten,2 and Michael Karin1,* 1Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, Departments of Pharmacology and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA 22nd Department of Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, 81675 Munich, Germany *Correspondence: karinoffice@ucsd.edu DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2010.01.025 Inflammatory responses play decisive roles at different stages of tumor development, including initiation, promotion, malignant conversion, invasion, and metastasis. Inflammation also affects immune surveillance and responses to therapy. Immune cells that infiltrate tumors engage in an extensive and dynamic crosstalk with cancer cells, and some of the molecular events that mediate this dialog have been revealed. This review outlines the principal mechanisms that govern the effects of inflammation and immunity on tumor development and discusses attractive new targets for cancer therapy and prevention. Introduction The presence of leukocytes within tumors, observed in the 19th century by Rudolf Virchow, provided the first indication of a possible link between inflammation and cancer. Yet, it is only during the last decade that clear evidence has been obtained that inflammation plays a critical role in tumorigenesis, and some of the underlying molecular mechanisms have been elucidated (Box 1)...
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...smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality (death) in most of the countries in the world. Tobacco use is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the world. Because cigarette smoking and tobacco use are acquired behaviors − activities that people choose to do – smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. About half of all Americans who keep smoking will die because of the habit. Each year about 480,000 people in the United States die from illnesses related to tobacco use. Smoking cigarettes kills more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined. Cigarette smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths. It’s linked with an increased risk of these cancers: * Lung - Lung cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that start off in one or both lungs; usually in the cells that line the air passages. The abnormal cells do not develop into healthy lung tissue; they divide rapidly and form tumors. * Larynx (voice box) - Cancer of the larynx, can also be called laryngeal cancer, can develop in any part of the larynx, but most begins in the glottis. The inner walls of the larynx are lined with cells called squamous cells. Almost all laryngeal cancers begin in these cells. * Oral cavity (mouth, tongue, and lips) – mouth cancer, tongue cancer or lips cancer * Nose and sinuses – sinus or nasal cavity cancer * Pharynx (throat) - Throat cancer refers to cancerous tumors that develop...
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