Chapter 12 The Development of Cancer Research and Treatments Flashcards
what is cancer
cancer is an abnormal, uncontrolled growth of cells
what do cells from malignant tumours do
they invade health tissue, they may enter the blood stream and circulate to other parts of the body forming secondary tumours
what causes cancers lung breast prostate mouth, tongue, oesophagus cervical cancer skin cancer bowel cancer
lung - carcinogens in cigarette smoke
breast - long term exposure to oestrogen, high fat levels in older women, genes
prostate - age, overweight, high fat diet, family members
mouth - smoking and drinking
skin - sun beds, ultraviolet light
bowel - age, low fibre diet
the work of Richard doll
he published a paper suggesting that lung cancer is caused by smoking as a result of surveying 700 patients
people were sceptical so he looked for more proof, he asked 40,000 doctors if they smoked and then monitored their health over the next few years the smokers got cancer
methods of diagnosing
if a person has a lump. bleeding from the bowel, changes in moles the GP will refer them to an oncologist for further tests
blood tests, X-rays, other scans or a biopsy - where tissue is cut out and examined by a pathologist
what is a tumour
when abnormal growth forms a group of cells called a tumour
if the tumour is encloised and stays in one place then it is called benign and is only a problem if it compresses other tissue
why are lymph glands close to a tumour removed
so the cancer cells cannot spread to them and so they cannot transport cells to the rest of the body
methods of treating cancer
surgery to remove the tumour chemotherapy radiotherapy bone marrow transplant vaccine is better than cure
what is angiogenesis
tumours grow their own blood vessels
what is metastasis
cells move away from the primary tumour and invade other parts of the body via blood vessels and lymph vessels
