Lecture 1c: Modern History in Cancer Research & Hallmarks of Cancer

Question 1

Rudolph Virchow’s discovery

Answer 1

Identified white blood cells (Leukocytes) in cancerous tissue, making the first connection between inflammation and cancer. Coined the term leukemia and is the first person to describe excess number of WBC’s in the blood of patients with disease.

Question 2

Rudolph Virchow’s proposal

Answer 2

Every cell arises from another cell. Identified WBCs in cancerous tissue making the first connection between inflammation and cancer.

Question 3

Stephen Paget’s theory

Answer 3

Seed-and-Soil theory of cancer spread: Metastasis did not occur randomly.

Question 4

Metastasis definition

Answer 4

Spread of primary tumor cells to a secondary organ.

Question 5

Metastasis is responsible for approximately ____% of cancer deaths

Answer 5

90%

Question 6

Peyton Rous Discovery

Answer 6

Viral cause of avian cancer

Question 7

Peyton Rous Experiment

Answer 7

Extracted material from a cancer tumor in a hen and injected it into a health chicken. Health chicken developed cancer and he concluded that cells from the hen’s tumor contained an infectious substance, a virus, that transmits cancer.

Question 8

Theodor Boveri Discovery

Answer 8

The role of chromosomal abnormalities in the development of cancer. Laid the foundation for the understanding of hereditary cancers and predisposition of cancer. Investigated the interaction between cytoplasm and chromosomes.

Question 9

What was Boveri’s early idea of tumor suppressor genes

Answer 9

Suggested that loss of key cellular attributes, now known as tumor suppressor genes, are a key driver event in the development of cancer and inheritance could play a role in cancer susceptibility.

Question 10

Boveri’s prediction of a key hallmark of cancer

Answer 10

Chromosomal (Genomic) Instability

Question 11

William Halsted

Answer 11

Surgical treatment of breast cancer. First radical mastectomy to treat Breast cancer. Procedure remained the standard breast cancer operation until the latter half of the 20th century.

Question 12

Person who discobered x-rays

Answer 12

Wilhelm Roentgen

Question 13

Marie and Pierre Curie’s discovery

Answer 13

Radioactive elements radium and polonium. Within a few years the use of radium in cancer treatments began.

Question 14

George Papanicolaou

Answer 14

Discovered cervical cancer can be detected by examining the cells from the vagina under a microscope.

Question 15

Pap smear

Answer 15

Allows abnormal cervical cells to be detected and removed before they become cancerous.

Question 16

Year the first complete cure of a human solid tumor occured

Answer 16

1953

Question 17

4 legs of cancer treatment

Answer 17

1. Surgery
2. Chemotherapy
3. Radiation
4. Immunotherapy

Question 18

Bevacizumab

Answer 18

First FDA approved monoclonal antibody targeting vascular endothelial growth factor for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.

Question 19

Liquid biopsies for tracking cancer

Answer 19

Can show the number of circulating epithelial cells in the blood in markedly higher in women with metastatic breast cancer before systemic therapy than in women w/o breast cancer or benign breast disease

Question 20

HPV Vaccine

Answer 20

Evidence that HPV vaccination for HPV’s 16 and 18 can decrease risk of cervical cancer

Question 21

HPV Vaccine is found to decrease risk of associated cervical abnormalities from ____% to ____%

Answer 21

4.9% to 0.4%

Question 22

Genome-wide profiling: Full length single-cell mRNA sequencing from individual tumour cells

Answer 22

Can analyse the full length mRNA transcriptomes of circulating tumour cells from patients with melanomas.

Question 23

Immunotherapy

Answer 23

FDA approval of nivolumab and ipilimumab for BRAF-wild-type metastatic melanoma

Question 24

Molecular Genetic Pathology

Answer 24

Part of a patient’s treatment plan to provide therapies and treatments that directly target patient-specific mutations.

Question 25

6 Hallmarks of Cancer

Answer 25

1. Sustaining proliferative signaling
2. Evading growth suppressors
3. Resisting cell death (apoptosis)
4. Enabling replicative immortality
5. Inducing angiogenesis
6. Activating invasion and metastasis

Question 26

Hayflick limit

Answer 26

The limited number of divisions normal cells have before death due to shortening of telomeres. (40-60)

Question 27

What is the hallmark of cancer that enables replicative immortality

Answer 27

Telomere maintenance via telomerase reactivation

Question 28

Five steps of metastatic cascade

Answer 28

1. Invasion
2. Intravasation
3. Circulation
4. Extravasation
5. Colonization