BLD 204 UNIT 4 - CANCER QUESTIONS ANSWERED CORRECTLY LATEST UPDATE 2026

BLD 204 UNIT 4 - CANCER QUESTIONS ANSWERED CORRECTLY LATEST UPDATE 2026 Define neoplasm - Answers "New" + "to mould"; Abnormal new growth Define tumor - Answers A mass of tissue caused by abnormal cell division. Define carcinogenesis - Answers process by which normal cells are transformed into cancer cells Define oncology - Answers The study of neoplasms What are some common neoplasm characteristics? - Answers Transformed phenotype, autonomous behavior, proliferation, disorderly differentiation, tumors, and ignoring ques from the environment What does it mean for a cell to be transformed? - Answers The development of mutations that cause cells to act abnormally or unhealthily What does it mean for cancer cells to be autonomous? - Answers Cancer cells do not behave in synch with the rest of the body. They ignore things like contact inhibition What are the characteristics of benign neoplasms? - Answers Commonly encapsulated, no metastasis, low growth rate, low rates of mitosis, and are typically amenable to surgery. Benign neoplasms can develop into malignant neoplasms What are the characteristics of malignant neoplasms? - Answers Invade surrounding tissues, metastasize, lots of mitosis, fast growth rate, and damage the surrounding tissues What are some of the controls used to regulate normal cell division? - Answers RB, cyclins, cyclin dependent kinases, cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors, and apoptosis/senesence Describe the process of disorderly proliferation as it relates to cancer - Answers Cells escape regulatory control, become immortal and divide more than they should. End result is mass of cells in wrong number/location. Typically caused by a lack of contact inhibition/excess growth factors from surrounding cells (TNF, PDGF) Why is the difference between excess proliferation in neoplasms and normal processes like hypertrophy/hyperplasia? - Answers Hypertrophy/hyperplasia are normal responses to stressful stimuli. When the stimulus ceases so does the growth. This is not the case for neoplasms What is differentiation? - Answers The process of developing into the final cell type from a progenitor. Normal differentiation is an orderly progression from stem cell to mature functional cell, driven by changes in gene expression Describe the process of normal differentiation - Answers A stem cell divides into a pluripotent stem cell and a daughter cell which will commit to a functional cell line. This is managed at the DNA , RNA level, and during translation. Cell-to-cell communication is also involved What controls regulate differentiation at the DNA level? - Answers Transcriptional control What controls regulate differentiation at the RNA level? - Answers Processing, transport, and degradation/stabilization What controls regulate differentiation at the protein level? - Answers Translational control, and control of proteins by other proteins Describe the process of disorderly differentiation of cancer cells? - Answers Development is disrupted before the cell reaches maturity. This produces neoplastic cells stuck in various states of immaturity. The less mature they are, the worse the outcome What are some characteristics of neoplastic cells which have undergone disorderly differentiation? - Answers Exhibit inappropriate behaviors, secrete things they shouldn't, ignore signals and over proliferate. They are considered transformed Define anaplasia - Answers Cells within the same tissue can be at different levels of differentiation, making a heterogenous tissue that complicates treatment How are cancers classified? - Answers Classified by behavior and tissue of origin. Benign tumors are named via tissue source + "oma". Malignant tumors are named via solid tissue source + "sarcoma" How are malignant blood cancers named? - Answers Leukemia or lymphoma How are malignant epithelial cancers named? - Answers Carcinomas or adenosarcoma if source is glandular Define dysplasia - Answers Describes tissues/groups of cells that are displaying warning signs of malignancy. Common in epithelial tissues and sites of infection What is carcinoma in situ? - Answers The whole depth of the tissue is dysplasic What is the genetic basis of cancer? - Answers Non-lethal genetic damage. The mutation/damage is random and things like exposure to toxins increase the risk of developing, but they randomly occur across the genome Why is cancer more common in older people? - Answers There is more time for DNA damage to accumulate and cancer to develop What are the four main classes of regulatory genes that act as targets for mutations leading to cancer? - Answers Growth promoting proto-oncogenes, growth inhibiting tumor suppressor genes, genes which regulate apoptosis, and genes that regulate interactions between host/tumor cells What are oncogenes? - Answers A gene that induces a transformed phenotype when expressed in cells What is a proto-oncogene? - Answers A gene which has a normal functional role in the genome but can be turned into an oncogene if mutated. For example, genes which encode growth factors What are tumor suppressor genes? - Answers Genes which help regulate cell division and control abnormal proliferation. They act as breaks on the cell cycle. Typically, both alleles must be mutated before transformation occurs What is a "Governor" tumor suppressor gene? - Answers Genes that act as stop mechanisms during the cell cycle, RB is an example What is a "Guardian" tumor suppressor gene? - Answers Genes that act as sensors of genetic damage/protein misfolding. An example is TP53 Why do naked mole rats rarely develop cancer? - Answers They have high rates of P53 expression Describe genes that regulate apoptosis - Answers May act as tumor suppressors/oncogenes. BCL2 is a proto-oncogene that regulates apoptosis and has interactions with Bax/Bak What is the role of genes that regulate interactions between host and tumor cells? - Answers Mostly function in the immune system recognizing and attacking mutated/transformed cells. What is a driver mutation? - Answers Mutations that alter function of cancer cells and directly contribute to progression of cancer What is a passenger mutation? - Answers Mutations which are neutral in affect, but can be used as markers How does aneuploidy relate to cancer? - Answers As cancers progress and become more severe aneuploidy is commonly observed. Aneuploidy is a strong sign of a transformed phenotype In which type of breast cancers is aneuploidy most common? - Answers In breast cancers caused by mutations in BRCA1/2. This is because BRCA is involved in DNA repair What are some chromosomal lesions which can lead to cancer? - Answers Gene deletions, translocations, and gene amplifications Describe balanced translocations - Answers Balanced translocations can move genes to areas of inappropriate/highly active promotion What are some examples of cancers caused by balanced translocations? - Answers MYC in Burkitt's lymphoma, BCL2 in follicular B cell lymphoma, and the Philadelphia chromosome Describe balanced translocation's role in the Philadelphia chromosome - Answers Balanced translocations in chromosome 9 and chromosome 22 can lead to BCR-ABL fusion proteins. ABL encodes tyrosine kinase a receptor that when stimulated causes cells to start dividing. The fusion protein turns the signal on constantly Why are lymphocytes/lymphocyte precursors prone to mutations? - Answers During somatic recombination intentional DNA breaks are made allowing room for mutations which cause lymphomas Describe the role of deletions in cancer? - Answers The 2nd most common karyotypic abnormality. Seen more in solid tumors and occur when a large deletion removes a tumor suppressor gene. What is loss of heterozygosity - Answers Occurs when there was already a deletion in one allele, this puts the patient at higher risk of mutations that cause cancer. This is very common in the RB gene and tumor suppressor genes Describe amplifications as they relate to cancer - Answers Amplifications can result in proto-oncogene over expression. A transcription factor that regulates the cell cycle of gene regulation being over expressed can cause problems How do amplifications affect the appearance of chromosomes? - Answers They can make the chromosome appear larger or little pieces of the gene, called double minutes, are copied and left to float free of the chromosome within the nucleus What are some examples of genes which can cause cancer when amplified? - Answers HER2 is a growth factor receptor gene that is linked to breast cancer when overexpressed. EEBR2 is a growth factor gene that is also linked to breast cancer when over expressed. Amplifications in NMYC are common in neuroblastoma Describe the role of microRNA in cancer development - Answers microRNA is a regulatory RNA that