Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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Cellular and
Molecular Biology:
Concepts and
Experiments
Department of Biotechnology
Zhi Huang (黄峙), Ph.D & Prof.
Email: thsh@jnu.edu.cn, Ph: 13678988403, qq:1547461148
Chapter 12 Cancer
Learning Objectives:
1. The biology of cancer
2. The causes of cancer
3. The genetics of cancer;
4. New strategies for combating cancer.
Introduction
Cancer is a genetics disease. The genetic alterations that
lead most cancers arise in the DNA of a somatic cell, and
result in cancer cells proliferation uncontrollably, producing
malignant tumors that invade surrounding healthy tissue.
Cancer is not an inherited disease, because the genetic
defect of an inherited disease is present in the
chromosomes of a parent and is transmitted to the zyogte.
If a tumor remains localized, the disease can usually be
treated and cured by surgical removal of it.
Malignant tumors tend to metastasize, that is, to spawn
cells that break away from the parent mass, enter the
lymphatic or vascular circulation, and spread to distant sites
in the body where they establish lethal secondary tumors
(metastases) that are no longer amenable to surgical
removal.
Because of cancer impact on human health and the hope
that a cure might be developed, cancer has been the focus
of a massive research effort for decades.
Figure 12.1 The invasion of normal tissue by a growing
tumor. The metastasized melanosarcoma (in red) is
invading the normal liver tissue.
Figure 12.2 The estimated number of new cancer cases and
deaths in the U.S.A in 1997.
Figure 1. Ten Leading Cancer Types for the Estimated New Cancer Cases
and Deaths by Sex, United States, 2012.
Growth properties
of normal and
cancerous cells.
Normal cells grow
in a culture dish
until they cover the
surface as a
monolayer (a,b).
Malignant cells
typically grow in
multilayered
clumps, or foci (c,d)
The phenotype of a cancer cell
Aneuploidy is the most striking alterations in the nucleus of
cancer cells. Normal cells maintain their diploid chromosome
The mechanism
of action of
chemical
carcinogens.
12.3 The Genetics of Cancer
Malignant transformation requires more than a single
genetic alteration. The development of a malignant tumor,
termed as tumorigenesis, is a multistep process
characterized by a progression of genetic alterations in a
single line of cells that makes the cells increasingly less
responsive to the body’s normal regulatory machinery and
better able to invade normal tissues.
Immunotherapy
Gene therapy
Inhibiting the activity of cancer promoting
proteins
Inhibiting the formation of new blood
vessels (angiogenesis)
Angiogenesis and tumor growth.
The response of a solid tumor
grown in mice to treatment with
angiogenesis inhibitors.