CANCER

Cancer: Caused by a mutation in a gene that codes for a checkpoint protein. The cell loses control over cell division and so divides at a rapid rate. CHARACTERISTICS 1. Cells grow in multiple or disorganized layers

Cells normally tell each other not to divide. Cancer cells ignore these signals and so divide rapidly in multiple layers called a TUMOR. 2.Because their DNA is damaged, cancer cells have large, irregularly shaped nuclei.

3.Tumors cause blood vessels to grow into them to supply the tumor with nutrients & O 2. 4.Cancer cells grow too fast to specialize. They never learn what type of cell they are are supposed to be. ie: they never learn which genes to read. Example: Liver cancer cells never specialize into into normal liver cells and produce liver proteins. 5. Metastasis: Cancer cells break off the tumor, travel through the body in the blood stream, grow into new tumors in other parts of the body.

TREATMENTS: 1.Surgery: Remove the tumor 2.Chemotherapy: Using chemicals to kill cancer cells 3.Radiation therapy: Using radiation to kill cancer cells