PLTW MIName: ______

Inside Cancer

  • Go to
  • Click on “Hallmarks of Cancer”

OVERVIEW

  1. In a single cell, what do all cancers begin with? ______
  2. What are the two causes of these and which is more common?
  1. DNA changes may result in a change in the ______produced.
  1. Explain why cancer incidence increases with age.

GROWING UNCONTROLLABLY

  1. What normally regulates cell growth and division in typical cells?
  1. What are two ways cancer cells are able to grow continuously?

EVADING DEATH

  1. What is apoptosis?
  1. What are the roles of proteases and enzymes in cell death?
  1. What eventually happens to dead cells or cellular remains?
  1. Why would a cell commit suicide?

PROCESSING NUTRIENTS

  1. What does angiogenic mean?
  1. Why do cancer cells need a blood supply?
  1. What are some of the nutrients a cancer cell needs?
  1. What are some of the waste products a cancer cell produces?
  1. What types of cancers would be unlikely to undergo angiogenesis and why?

BECOMING IMMORTAL

  1. What is a telomere?
  1. What are two things that happen to telomeres as cells undergo cell divisions?
  1. What is the role of telomerase?
  1. Where and/or when is telomerase typically expressed?

INVADING TISSUES

  1. What is usually the cause of people dying from cancer?
  1. Cells normally stay in one site or one tissue type. Why can cancer spread to other tissues?
  1. What happens to body tissues as a result of cancer that classifies cancer as a disease?

AVOIDING DETECTION

  1. How does the appearance of a cancer cell compare to a normal cell?
  1. What body system is responsible for detecting precancerous cells? ______
  1. Describe the two adaptive immune responses (B cells and T cells) that respond to changes in cells in our body such as infections or cancer.
  1. Describe what adjuvant therapy is

PROMOTING MUTATIONS

  1. One way mutations are acquired in cancer cells is during the process of ______.
  1. What are cancer cells unable to do?
  1. What does this result in?
  1. What is the estimated average number of mutations required to develop cancer?

Click on “Causes and Prevention” above.

  1. Label the pie chart at right. What percentage of cancers is inherited? What percentage is due to a person’s environment and lifestyle?
  1. Label the pie chart at right. What percentage of cancers is inherited? What percentage is due to pollutants? What percentage is due to other elements in a person’s environment and lifestyle?
  1. Cancer epidemiology: Lung Cancer
  2. ______men per 100,000 men in the United States
  3. ______women per 100,000 women in the United States
  4. Another country that has high rates of lung cancer: ______
  5. A country that has low rates of lung cancer: ______
  6. Why? Environmental cause:
  1. Cancer epidemiology: Skin Cancer
  2. ______men per 100,000 men in the United States
  3. ______women per 100,000 women in the United States
  4. Another country that has high rates of skin cancer: ______
  5. A country that has low rates of skin cancer: ______
  6. Why do we see countries in Africa with such low rates of skin cancer?
  1. Cancer epidemiology: (you choose one) ______
  2. ______men per 100,000 men in the United States
  3. ______women per 100,000 women in the United States
  4. Another country that has high rates of ______cancer: ______
  5. A country that has low rates of ______cancer: ______
  6. Why? Environmental cause:

Click on “smoking” in the menu to the left.

  1. Smoking: Killers in Smoke:
  2. What do smoke particles (soot) do to the lung cilia?
  1. How does this cause lung cancer?
  1. Smoking: Smoking gun: What does epoxide do to the DNA?
  1. Smoking: p53:
  2. What does the p53 protein do?
  1. When does it do this during the cell cycle?
  1. If the p53 gene is mutated, the p53 won’t function right. If it doesn’t perform its function, how do you think that will lead to more problems for the lung cells?

Click on “Diet” in the menu to the left.

  1. What in our diet causes prostate cancer?
  1. What in our diet prevents prostate cancer?

Click on “Viruses” in the menu to the left.

12. What is HPV and what are it’s symptoms?

13. How does HPV lead to cancer?

  • Click on “Diagnosis and Treatment” above.
  • Click on “Blocking Receptors” in the menu to the left.

14. What hormone do breast cancers require to grow? ______

  1. What does tamoxifen do to the cancer cell? What then happens to the cancer cell?
  1. What happens if a breast cell has an abnormally large number of Her-2 receptors?
  1. What treatment can we give the patient? What then happens to the cancer cell?

Click on “Pharmacogenetics” in the menu to the left

  1. What is the function of HER-2 and how does it relate to cancer?
  1. How does the drug Herceptin work?
  1. What does the microarray technique detect and how does this relate to cancer detection?
  • Click on “Pathways to Cancer” above. This will be a review of what you have learned.
  • Under each heading, describe a few things about what you have learned.

Overview

At the cell surface

Beneath the membrane

A bevy of interactions

To the nucleus

Inside the nucleus

Making the protein

Releasing the protein