Genetic Basis of Cancer

Question 1

What increases people’s risk for cancer?

Answer 1

-Tobacco use
-Low strength radiation (sunlight)
-High strength radiation (x-ray)
-Viruses
-Heredity

Question 2

Genes

Answer 2

-In the DNA of each cell in your body
-Researchers estimate that each cell contains 30,000 different genes

Question 3

How do genes control how the cell functions?

Answer 3

-How quickly it grows
-How often it divides
-How long it lives

Question 4

How genes work

Answer 4

-Genes control how your cells work by making proteins
-The proteins have specific functions and act as messengers for the cell
-Each gene must have the correct instructions for making its protein. This allows the protein to perform the correct function for the cell
-All cancers begin when one or more genes in a cell mutate creating an abnormal protein or prevent a proteins formation
-An abnormal protein provides different information than a normal protein. This can cause cells to multiply uncontrollably and become cancerous

Question 5

Two basic types of genetic mutations

Answer 5

-Acquired
-Germline

Question 6

Acquired Mutations

Answer 6

-Most common cause of cancer
-Occur from damage to genes in a particular cell during a person’s life
-Not passed from parent to child
-Tobacco, UV radiation, viruses, and age can cause these mutations

Question 7

Germline Mutations

Answer 7

-Less common
-Passed directly from a parent to a child at the time of conception
-As embryo grows into a baby, the mutation is copied into every cell within the body

Question 8

Oncogenes

Answer 8

-Turn a healthy cell into a cancerous cell
-Mutations in these genes are not known to be inherited

Question 9

Two common oncogenes

Answer 9

-HER2, a specialized protein that controls cancer growth and spread. It is found in some cancer cells. For example, breast and ovarian cancer cells.
-The RAS family of genes makes proteins, involved in cell communication pathways, cell growth, and cell death