cancer

Examples of cancer in the following topics:

• Effects of Smoking

  • Figure 1 shows the correlation between smoking and lung cancer.
  • Among the diseases that can be caused by smoking are vascular stenosis, lung cancer, heart attacks, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  • Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (including emphysema and chronic bronchitis), and cancer (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer).
  • The primary risks of tobacco usage include many forms of cancer, particularly lung cancer, kidney cancer, cancer of the larynx and head and neck, breast cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the esophagus, cancer of the pancreas, and stomach cancer.
  • There is some evidence suggesting a small increased risk of myeloid leukemia, squamous cell sinonasal cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, cancers of the gallbladder, the adrenal gland, the small intestine, and various childhood cancers.

• Cancer Immunology

  • Cancer immunology examines the interaction between cancer cells and the immune system.
  • Cancer immunology is the study of interactions between the immune system and cancer cells (also called tumors or malignancies).
  • The study of these viruses and their role in the development of various cancers is still continuing; however, a vaccine has been developed that can prevent infection of certain HPV strains, and thus prevent those HPV strains from causing cervical cancer, and possibly other cancers as well.
  • Cancer immunotherapy attempts to stimulate the immune system to reject and destroy tumors.
  • Lung cancer has been demonstrated to potentially respond to immunotherapy.

• Increased Cancer Risk from Radiation

  • Additionally, the vast majority of non-invasive cancers are non-melanoma skin cancers caused by non-ionizing ultraviolet radiation.
  • Cancer is a stochastic effect of radiation, meaning that the probability of occurrence increases with effective radiation dose, but the severity of the cancer is independent of dose.
  • Cancer starts with a single cell whose operation is disrupted.
  • An increased risk of cancer has been shown to correlate with radiation dose.
  • Recognize the relationship between radiation exposure and one's chance of acquiring cancer

• Cervical Cancer

  • Cervical cancer is a cancer that originates in the cervix of a female.
  • One of the most common symptoms of cervical cancer is abnormal vaginal bleeding, but in some cases there may be no obvious symptoms until the cancer has progressed to an advanced stage.
  • Very rarely, cancer can arise in other types of cells in the cervix.
  • The early stages of cervical cancer may be completely asymptomatic.
  • While the pap smear is an effective screening test, confirmation of the diagnosis of cervical cancer or pre-cancer requires a biopsy of the cervix.

• Epigenetic Alterations in Cancer

  • Cancer epigenetics is the study of epigenetic modifications to the genome of cancer cells that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence.
  • Epigenetic alterations are as important as genetic mutations in a cell's transformation to cancer.
  • Increasingly, scientists are understanding how these epigenetic changes are altered in cancer.
  • In cancer cells, silencing genes through epigenetic mechanisms is a common occurrence.
  • Describe the role played by epigenetic alterations to gene expression in the development of cancer

• Cancer and Translational Control

  • There are many examples of translational or post-translational modifications of proteins that arise in cancer.
  • An example of how the expression of an alternative form of a protein can have dramatically different outcomes is seen in colon cancer cells.
  • However, in colon cancer cells, expression of the long form results in increased cell growth instead of cell death.
  • Clearly, the expression of the wrong protein dramatically alters cell function and contributes to the development of cancer.
  • Undoubtedly, more targeted therapies will be developed as scientists learn more about how gene expression changes can cause cancer .

• Colorectal Cancer

  • Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer from uncontrolled malignant cell growth in the colon, rectum, or appendix.
  • Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer from uncontrolled malignant cell growth in the colon, rectum, or appendix .
  • Colorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, but it is more common in developed countries.
  • Physical activity can moderately reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
  • More than 80% colorectal cancers arise from adenomatous polyps making this cancer amenable to screening .

• Testicular Cancer

  • Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.
  • Over his lifetime, a man's risk of testicular cancer is roughly 1 in 250 (0.4%).
  • Testicular cancer has one of the highest cure rates of all cancers: in excess of 90%; essentially 100% if it has not spread (metastasized).
  • Although testicular cancer can be derived from any cell type found in the testicles, more than 95% of testicular cancers are germ cell tumors .
  • However, the American Cancer Society suggests that some men should examine their testicles monthly, especially if they have a family history of cancer.

• Cancer and Post-Transcriptional Control

  • Changes in the post-transcriptional control of a gene can result in cancer.
  • Several studies have demonstrated a change in the miRNA population in specific cancer types.
  • It appears that the subset of miRNAs expressed in breast cancer cells is quite different from the subset expressed in lung cancer cells or even from normal breast cells.
  • It would, therefore, be conceivable that new drugs that turn off miRNA expression in cancer could be an effective method to treat cancer.
  • Specific types of miRNAs are only found in cancer cells.

• Pancreatic Cancer

  • Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths across the globe, and has one of the highest fatality rates of all cancers.
  • Symptoms of pancreatic cancer metastasis.
  • The risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age.
  • This depends on the stage of the cancer.
  • These micrographs show the progression of changes in the pancreas due to cancer, from normal pancreas, to pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (precursors to pancreatic cancer), and finally pancreatic cancer.