Cancer ? | Online Biotech Notes

Online Biotech Notes

Cancer?

What is Cancer?

• Abnormal cell growth (Neoplasia)
• Malignant as opposed to benign
•   Benign: Slow growth, Non-invasive, no metastasis
• Malignant : Rapid growth, invasive, potential for metastasis

Cancer?

• The division of normal cells is precisely controlled. New cells are only formed for growth or to replace dead ones.
• Cancerous cells divide repeatedly out of control even though they are not nedded, they crowd out other normal cells and function abnormally. They can also destroy the correct functioning of major organs.

Types of Cancers

Classification of Cancers

1. Carcinomas
2. Sarcomas
3. Lymphomas
4. Leukemias

Carcinomas

It is a type of cancer that begins in a tissue that lies the inner and outer surface of the body, and generally arises from cells originating in the endodemic or ectodermic germ layer during embryogenesis.

Sarcomas

It is a type of cancer that arises from transferred cells or mesanchymal origion.

Lymphomas

It is a type of  blood cancer. it occurs when T and B Lymphocytes transform and begin growing and multiplying uncontrollably.

Leukemias

It is a type of the bone marrow characterize by an abnormal increase of immature WBC Called 'Blast".

Why causes Cancer?

1. Cancer arises from the mutation of a normal gene
2. Mutated genes that cause cancer are called oncogenes.
3. It is thought that several mutation need to give rise to cancer rise to cancer.
4. Ccells that are old or not functioning properly  self destruct and are replaced by new cells.
5. However,  cancerous cells do not  destruct  and continuous to divide rapidly production millions of new cancerous cells.

Is cancer a heritable disease?

1.  There are heritable  cancer syndrome
2.  The majority of cancers,  however,  are not familiar
3.  Cancer is a genetic diseases,  but the maturity of mutations that leads the cancer are somatic.

Phenotypes of a cancer cell

•  The six hallmarks of cancer
• self- sufficient growth signals
• constitutively activated growth factor signalling

•  resistance to anti-growth signals
• In activated cell cycle checkpoints

•  immortality
• In activated cell death pathway

Biological factors

• some cancers such as breast,  store match,  prostate,  uterus,  ovaries and lungs appear to run in families.
• Hodking's diseases and certain leukemia's show similar patterns
• rare form of eye cancer appear to be transmitted genetically from mother to child.
• A factor which brings about a mutation is called a mutant gene.
• a mutagen is mutagenic
• any agent that causes Cancer is called a carcinogen and it is described as carcinogenic
• So some mutagens are carcinogenic.

Treatment of Cancer

Early treatment ensures that the cancer can be controlled. Some of the following treatments of cancer which may be control cancers.

1. By the use of  Radiation or Radiotherapy:

• It involves the exposure the cancerous part of the body to high doses of radiation which can destroy rapidly growing cells and shrink tumors.

2. By the use of Surgery:

• Generally, Tumor and Cancerous cells can be removed surgically .

3. By the use of Chemotherapy:

• In chemotherapy, some anticancer drugs are involved to control cancer.
• Chemotherapy drugs are alkalyting agents ( Cisplatin, Carboplatin, Melphalan) and antibiotics ( actinomycin).

4. By the use of Hormone therapy:

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

5. By the use of Stem cell transplant:

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

6. By the use of Precision medicine:

• Precision medicine helps doctors select treatments that are most likely to help patients based on a genetic understanding of their disease.

7. By the use of Target therapy:

• In Targeted therapy, Cancer treatment is occured  by targets the changes in cancer cells that help them grow, divide, and spread.

8. By the use of Herbal- therapy:

• Certain medicinal plants have Anti-cancer property and it will stop growth of cancer.
• Vinca alkaloids (vinblastine, vincristine and vindesine), the epipodophyllotoxins (etoposide and teniposide), Taxanes (paclitaxel and docetaxel) and the camptothecin derivatives (camptotecin) are used as medicinal plant for treatment of cancer.

Thankyou!!!