Cancer Causes and Treatment

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the genetic and environmental causes of cancer, diagnostic workflows, conventional treatments, immunology, and targeted CAR T-cell therapies.

Inherited Mutations

Mutations passed down from biological parents that generally do not cause cancer directly, but increase an individual's susceptibility or chances of developing cancer.

De Novo Mutations

Mutations that develop over a person's lifetime, are unique to that individual, and originate from multiple environmental or internal sources.

Thymine Dimers

DNA lesions caused by UV radiation wherein two adjacent thymine bases bind together abnormally, creating a kink in the DNA backbone.

Carcinogen

Any chemical or agent directly associated with an increase in the occurrence or risk of cancer.

Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs)

Chemical mutagens produced when meat is cooked over high heat that exhibit weak mutagenic activity.

Virus

An infectious agent composed of a DNA or RNA genome protected by a protein coat, which delivers genetic material into a host cell to produce more viral particles.

Human papillomavirus (HPV)

A common sexually transmitted virus with few symptoms (present in $90\%$ of men and $80\%$ of women) that acts as the likely causative agent in approximately $99.7\%$ of cervical cancers and $70\%$ of oral cancers.

HPV-16 Genome

A circular, double-stranded DNA genome of approximately $7\,\text{kb}$ ($7904\,\text{bp}$) that can integrate into the host genome and encodes oncoproteins including E6 and E7.

E6 Protein (HPV)

A viral oncoprotein encoded by HPV that blocks the host cell from undergoing apoptosis (programmed cell death).

E7 Protein (HPV)

A viral oncoprotein encoded by HPV that suppresses normal cell cycle checkpoints, facilitating continuous host cell proliferation.

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)

Highly reactive oxygen-containing molecules released during metabolic reactions that create or destroy water, capable of causing DNA mutations.

DNA Polymerase Error Rate

The baseline replication error frequency of DNA polymerase during metabolism and aging, introducing an incorrect base approximately once every $100{,}000$ bases.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

A form of breast cancer that lacks estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and HER2 protein expression, making it the most difficult subtype to treat.

Tamoxifen

A pharmaceutical treatment used in receptor-positive breast cancers that acts by inhibiting estrogen signaling.

Mifepristone

A pharmaceutical agent utilized to inhibit progesterone signaling pathways.

Lipoma

A benign, non-cancerous mass consisting of fatty tissue.

Biopsy

The second diagnostic step after identifying a mass, involving the physical extraction of a tissue or cellular sample for pathological examination.

Nuclear-to-Cytoplasmic (N:C) Ratio Shift

A common cytological characteristic of precancerous and cancerous cells where the cell nucleus visibly enlarges while the surrounding cytoplasm shrinks.

Melanoma

A malignant skin tumor arising from the pathological overgrowth and proliferation of melanocytes (pigment-producing cells).

Angiogenesis

The development and formation of new blood vessels stimulated by tumors to satisfy the high energy and aerobic respiration demands of cancer cells.

Teratoma

A rare germ cell tumor capable of developing into multiple complex tissue types, visibly presenting differentiated structures such as hair and teeth.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU)

A chemotherapy nucleotide analog that clogs the enzyme required to synthesize thymine, dropping DNA thymine levels, incorporating into DNA to cause damage, and triggering cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.

Blood Fractionation

The centrifugal separation of whole blood into three constituent components: plasma ($55\%$ volume), buffy coat ($<1\%$ volume), and erythrocytes ($45\%$ volume).

Buffy Coat

The middle fraction of centrifuged whole blood that constitutes less than $1\%$ of total volume and contains white blood cells (leukocytes) and platelets.

Plasma (Blood)

The straw-colored liquid component of blood that comprises $55\%$ of total blood volume; derived from the Greek root plassein, which means 'to mold or form.'

Erythrocytes

Red blood cells that make up $45\%$ of total blood volume and function primarily to transport oxygen and $\text{CO}_2$ throughout the body.

B Memory Cells

Differentiated B lymphocytes that retain immunological memory of previously encountered antigens following mitosis to ensure rapid response upon future exposure.

B Plasma Cells

Differentiated B lymphocytes specialized to synthesize and actively secrete large amounts of antibodies.

Antibody

A Y-shaped protective protein generated by the adaptive immune system that binds, neutralizes, or labels specific foreign molecules, bacteria, viruses, or toxins for elimination.

Antigen

Any specific foreign molecular structure or marker to which an antibody binds.

Variable Domain

The amino-terminal region of an antibody's light and heavy chains that varies in sequence to form specific antigen-binding sites.

Constant Domain

The conserved region of an antibody molecule responsible for structural integrity and recognition by immune system effector components.

Hybridoma

An immortalized hybrid cell line created by fusing an antigen-specific B cell with a cancerous myeloma cell, capable of indefinitely producing a single monoclonal antibody.

Monoclonal Antibody

An antibody produced by a single clone of hybridoma cells that specifically targets and binds to only one unique antigen epitope.

Cytotoxic T-Cells (Killer T-Cells)

Lymphocytes that bind to target cells via major histocompatibility complex (MHC) interactions and inject cytotoxic compounds to destroy them.

CAR T-cell Therapy

A personalized cancer immunotherapy wherein a patient's T-cells are harvested, engineered with a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) to target specific cancer antigens, expanded in vitro, and reinfused into the patient.

Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel)

An FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy indicated for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Aucatzyl (obecabtagene autoleucel)

An FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy indicated for relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel)

An FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy indicated for pediatric and young adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as well as certain large B-cell lymphomas.