Question

•Compare and contrast the different stages of cancer progression to previously discussed

    developmental processes

•Use knowledge of developmental processes to design cancer therapeutic treatments

Answer 1

Answer

Introduction

• Cancers can be categorized into five basic types based on the cell of origin:

1. Carcinoma - epithelial cells
2. or Sarcoma: muscle, bone, cartilage, fat or connective tissue.
3. or Leukemia: blood cells or their precursors
4. Lymphoma: cells derived from the bone marrow; cancer affects the lymphatic system
5. Myeloma - specific blood cells; B lymphocytes (B cells)

Stages of tumor progression

• Tumors usually progress in a gradual manner:

1. Hyperplasia: the cells divide too much but appear normal
2. Dysplasia: tissue look abnormal & tumor cells
3. Carcinoma in situ: the tumor contains mainly altered cells and is growing more; has not left the site of origin
4. Malignant cancer: the tumor has begun to invade nearby or distant tissues
5. Benign tumors remain in their initial location and do not invade other tissues.

Initiators and promoters

1. Initiation is the first step in the two-stage model for cancer development & it cause irreversible changes (mutations) to DNA that increase the risk of cancer.
2. The promotion is the second step in the two-stage model for cancer development.
3. Once a cell has been mutated by an initiator, it is susceptible to the effects of the promoters.
4. Promoters increase cell proliferation and there are two main types:
5. Specific: interacts with receptors on or in particular target cells. or nonspecific - alter gene expression without the presence of a known receptor

Cancer therapeutic treatments

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and reduce tumors

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that focuses on changes in cancer cells that help them grow, divide and spread

Hormone therapy

Hormone therapy is a treatment that slows or stops the growth of breast and prostate cancers that use hormones to grow.

Stem cell transplant

by very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy , Stem cell transplants are procedures that restore blood-forming stem cells in cancer patients who have been destroyed

Precision medicine

Precision medicine helps the treatments which are most likely to help patients based on a genetic understanding of their disease