Chapter 20, Problem 18Q

Summary Introduction

To explain: Whether estrogen and androgens are mutagenic.

Introduction: Cancer is a state where the cells grow wildly and uninhibitedly. Every cell must perform its assigned function and undergo death at a particular stage. Cancer cells arise when the normal cells refuse to undergo apoptosis (cell death) and multiply indefinitely by disrupting the task performed by other cells in the body. Any agents (probably foreign) that can alter a genetic makeup of an organism and induce certain diseases (for example cancer) are called as a mutagen. But, certain cancer-causing agents are already present in our body whose increased expression in the body can contribute to occurrence of cancer. One such mutagen in our body is the sex hormones called the estrogen and androgen whose increased expression leads to breast cancer or uterus and prostate cancer, respectively.