Cancer Biology I

carcinomas

malignant epithelial tumors are referred to as ________

sarcomas

malignant connective tissue tumors are referred to as ________

lymphoma

cancer of lymphatic tissue is called ________

carcinoma in situ

pre-invasive epithelial malignant tumors of glandular or epithelial origin that have not broken through the basement membrane or not invaded the surrounding stroma

dysplasia

atypical hyperplasia; abnormal changes in size, shape, and organization of cells

anaplasia

loss of differentiation of cells, loss of organization, irregularities of size and shape of cells

False; while tumor markers can help, pathological examination is required to diagnose

true or false: specific tumor markers can diagnose cancers

fingerprint, signature

genetic ________ or _____ of cancer offers to characterize particular types of cancer for further personalized treatments

true

true or false: cancer cells are essentially immortal, having an unlimited life span

aerobic glycolysis

______ ______ occurs in cancer cells, where glucose is metabolized to lactate even in the presence of oxygen (Warburg effect)

pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC)

converts pyruvate to acetyl-CoA

lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)

converts pyruvate to lactate

cancerous behavior

indefinitely divide and differentiate without dependence on the needs of tissues (without tissue homeostasis)

adult stem cells

have characteristics of self-renewal, multipotent and toxin resistance, are controlled by tissue homeostasis (maintaining proper balance between amounts of different cell types)

hematopoietic

blood cells come from ________ stem cells

clonal selection model

mutations give some subclones a selective advantage, so these are able to outcompete other subclones and form a malignant subclone

oncogene activation

activation of proto-oncogenes results in hyperactivity of growth-related gene products

inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes

mutation of genes resulting in loss or inactivation of gene products that normally would inhibit growth

HER2

human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; a proto-oncogene that codes for growth factor receptors

BCR-ABL

occurs in chronic myelogenous leukemia; ABL gene from chromosome 9 breaks off and attaches to BCR gene on chromosome 22

Philadelphia chromosome

An abnormal chromosome produced by translocation of parts of the long arms of chromosomes 9 and 22.

Imatinib

tyrosine kinase inhibitor; prevents activation of growth factor signaling pathways

GTPase-Activating protein (GAP)

accelerates hydrolysis of GTP