Biology of Cancer Exam #1 2025
Questions and Answers
Three properties of cancer: - ANSWER✔✔-1) uncontrolled cell division
2) invasion of surrounding tissue
3)metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood)
Eight hallmark biological properties of malignant tumor cells: - ANSWER✔✔-
1)Acquisition of self-sufficiency in growth signals
2)Loss of sensitivity to anti-growth signals
3)Loss of capacity for apoptosis (cell suicide)
4)Loss of capacity for senescence (aging)
5)Acquisition of sustained angiogenesis (blood vessel growth)
6)Secrete enzymes to digest surrounding tissue that builds metastasis
7) lack of ability to repair genetic errors
8)suppression of the immune system
,What steps are not needed in Leukemia development? - ANSWER✔✔-tissue invasion
and displacement to distant sites
Inactivation of a single gene, coding for the P53 protein: - ANSWER✔✔-will cause
genomic instability, evasion of apoptosis and increased angiogenesis
Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) - ANSWER✔✔-originate from epithelial
cells as they are the most exposed to carcinogens (skin, linings of intestine and lung,
ductal/secretory tissues of breast, pancreas)
Epithelial cells - ANSWER✔✔-are non-motile, unipolar, oriented, linked up with other
epithelial cells via tight junctions, social, sit on top of a basement membrane
Mesenchymal cell - ANSWER✔✔-full transformation or progression to a highly
malignant cell results in a cell that becomes motile, bipolar, disoriented, anti-social, cell
that lacks tight junctions and moves about freely in the body
Warburg Effect - ANSWER✔✔-- cancer cells use anerobic glycolysis to obtain 2 ATP
from one glucose molecule. Normal cells fully oxidize or "burn" glucose to yield 38
molecules per glucose
-they do not respire but may be target to kill them ***
, Epigenetic modifications - ANSWER✔✔-changes in chromatin (DNA+histones) by
histone acetylases and deacetylases, micro RNA regulation of cell phenotypes. These
modification patterns can be inherited and/or induced in utero by diet
Cancers that are increasing in frequency: - ANSWER✔✔-Liver cancer, melanoma,
kidney and thyroid.
For some of them, the obesity epidemic may be a factor
Malignant melanoma - ANSWER✔✔-can be a very aggressive and deadly skin cancer,
but it is often caught early before it
spreads and kills.
Melanoma - ANSWER✔✔-a cancer of pigmented epithelial cells, caused by excessive
ultraviolet light exposure in early childhood. Again early detection- any changes in a
mole should be examined immediately
ABC's of Melanoma - ANSWER✔✔-Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter
Actinic keratosis - ANSWER✔✔--a scaly or crusty bump that forms on the skin, also
known as solar keratosis, sun spots, or precancerous spots
- may be a precursor of squamous cell cancer. About 10 to 15 percent of active lesions,
which are redder and more tender than the rest will take the next step and progress to
squamous cell carcinomas
Questions and Answers
Three properties of cancer: - ANSWER✔✔-1) uncontrolled cell division
2) invasion of surrounding tissue
3)metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood)
Eight hallmark biological properties of malignant tumor cells: - ANSWER✔✔-
1)Acquisition of self-sufficiency in growth signals
2)Loss of sensitivity to anti-growth signals
3)Loss of capacity for apoptosis (cell suicide)
4)Loss of capacity for senescence (aging)
5)Acquisition of sustained angiogenesis (blood vessel growth)
6)Secrete enzymes to digest surrounding tissue that builds metastasis
7) lack of ability to repair genetic errors
8)suppression of the immune system
,What steps are not needed in Leukemia development? - ANSWER✔✔-tissue invasion
and displacement to distant sites
Inactivation of a single gene, coding for the P53 protein: - ANSWER✔✔-will cause
genomic instability, evasion of apoptosis and increased angiogenesis
Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) - ANSWER✔✔-originate from epithelial
cells as they are the most exposed to carcinogens (skin, linings of intestine and lung,
ductal/secretory tissues of breast, pancreas)
Epithelial cells - ANSWER✔✔-are non-motile, unipolar, oriented, linked up with other
epithelial cells via tight junctions, social, sit on top of a basement membrane
Mesenchymal cell - ANSWER✔✔-full transformation or progression to a highly
malignant cell results in a cell that becomes motile, bipolar, disoriented, anti-social, cell
that lacks tight junctions and moves about freely in the body
Warburg Effect - ANSWER✔✔-- cancer cells use anerobic glycolysis to obtain 2 ATP
from one glucose molecule. Normal cells fully oxidize or "burn" glucose to yield 38
molecules per glucose
-they do not respire but may be target to kill them ***
, Epigenetic modifications - ANSWER✔✔-changes in chromatin (DNA+histones) by
histone acetylases and deacetylases, micro RNA regulation of cell phenotypes. These
modification patterns can be inherited and/or induced in utero by diet
Cancers that are increasing in frequency: - ANSWER✔✔-Liver cancer, melanoma,
kidney and thyroid.
For some of them, the obesity epidemic may be a factor
Malignant melanoma - ANSWER✔✔-can be a very aggressive and deadly skin cancer,
but it is often caught early before it
spreads and kills.
Melanoma - ANSWER✔✔-a cancer of pigmented epithelial cells, caused by excessive
ultraviolet light exposure in early childhood. Again early detection- any changes in a
mole should be examined immediately
ABC's of Melanoma - ANSWER✔✔-Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter
Actinic keratosis - ANSWER✔✔--a scaly or crusty bump that forms on the skin, also
known as solar keratosis, sun spots, or precancerous spots
- may be a precursor of squamous cell cancer. About 10 to 15 percent of active lesions,
which are redder and more tender than the rest will take the next step and progress to
squamous cell carcinomas
