Provide in your own words what cancer is, your answer should include the loss of normal control mechanisms.

Benign tumors: a. are noncancerous growths that do not spread to other tissues b. do not contain mutations c. are malignant and clonal in origin d. metastasize to other tissues e. none of these

____________ is the process through which a tumor supports its growth by creating its own blood supply. metastasis angiogenesis neoplasm malignant tumor

Ultimately, cancer kills because it spreads and disturbs homeostasis. Consider, for example, a kidney cancer that metastasizes to the lungs and liver. What are some specific aspects of homeostasis that the spreading disease could affect?

Which of the following is not a characteristic of cancer cells? a. less cytoplasmic volume than normal cells b. an absence of cyclin c. loss of adhesion to other cells d. loss of control of cell division e. loss of normal control of G1/S phase transition

Which of the following imaging techniques would be best to use to study the uptake of nutrients by rapidly multiplying cancer cells? CT MRI PET ultrasonography

Should he reconsider and try chemotherapy instead? Bruce and his parents moved to a semi-tropical region of the United States when he was about 3 years old. He loved to be outside year-round and swim, surf, snorkel, and play baseball. Bruce was fair-skinned, and in his childhood years, was sunburned quite often. In his teen years, he began using sunscreens, and although he never tanned very much, he did not have the painful sunburns of his younger years. After graduation from the local community college, Bruce wanted an outdoor job and was hired at a dive shop. He took people out to one of the local reefs to snorkel and scuba dive. He didnt give a second thought to sun exposure because he used sunscreen. His employer did not provide health insurance, so Bruce did not go for annual checkups, and tried to stay in good health. In his late 20s, Bruce was injured trying to keep a tourist from getting caught between the dive boat and the dock. He went to an internist, who treated his injury and told Bruce he was going to give him a complete physical exam. During the exam, the internist noticed a discolored patch of skin on Bruces back. She told him that she suspected Bruce had skin cancer and referred him to a dermatologist, who biopsied the patch. At a follow-up visit, Bruce was told that he had melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. Further testing revealed that the melanoma had spread to his liver and his lungs. The dermatologist explained that treatment options at this stage are limited. The drugs available for chemotherapy have only temporary effects, and surgery is not effective for melanoma at this stage. The dermatologist recommended that Bruce consider entering a clinical trial that was testing a DNA vaccine for melanoma treatment. These vaccines deliver DNA encoding a gene expressed by the cancer cells to the immune system. This primes the immune system to respond by producing large quantities of antibodies that destroy melanoma cells wherever they occur in the body. A clinical trial using one such DNA vaccine was being conducted at a nearby medical center, and Bruce decided to participate. At the study clinic, Bruce learned that he would be in a Phase Ill trial, comparing the DNA vaccine against the standard treatment, which is chemotherapy, and that he would be randomly assigned to receive either the DNA vaccine or the chemotherapy. He was disappointed to learn this. He thought he would be receiving the DNA vaccine.

Which of the following statements about cancer is false? (a) oncogenes arise from mutations in proto-oncogenes (b) tumor suppressor genes normally interact with growth-inhibiting factors to block cell division (c) more than 120 cancer-driving genes have been discovered (d) oncogenes were first discovered in mouse models for cancer (e) the development of cancer is usually a multistep process involving both oncogenes and mutated tumor suppressor genes

Which of the following mutations will result in cancer? a. homozygous recessive mutation in a tumor-suppressor gene coding for a nonfunctional protein b. dominant mutation in a tumor-suppressor gene in which the normal protein product is overexpressed c. homozygous recessive mutation in which there is a deletion in the coding region of a proto-oncogene, leaving it nonfunctional d. dominant mutation in a proto-oncogene in which the normal protein product is overexpressed

Cell specializations are usually a modification or elaboration of one of the basic cell functions. (True or fa1se?)