1. 11/8/2010: Warm Up
HAVE OUT YOUR HOMEWORK (WILL BE CHECKED)
1. What specific cells would need to have mutated DNA to pass cancer down to offspring?
2. What things have you heard of that cause cancer?
3. In what ways can you prevent cancer?

2. Cancer is…
cells that cannot control their growth rate and continue to divide without dying
This forms tumors
NORMAL CELLS live, divide, and die routinely

3. Benign and Malignant Benign (NONcancerous) tumors don’t spread
Malignant cells spread to other parts of the body and are the most dangerous, the process of spreading is called metastasis.

4. What causes cancer? Cancer forms when there are mutations in DNA
Oncogenes, which are genes that play a role in normal cell growth, may be mutated causing cells to abnormally divide
p53 is a tumor suppressor gene that can be mutated. p53 checks for mutations in DNA and fixes them or halts mitosis, when p53 is mutated, mitosis continues even though DNA is damaged

5. Hereditary Cancer
To inherit cancer, your parents would need to have mutated DNA in their gametes (egg or sperm)
This would mean that all of your DNA would contain this mutation since your DNA comes solely from your parents’ gametes.
Since you already have a mutation, the risk of developing cancer is greater
Would your gametes also have this mutation?
Maybe
Only mutations in gametes can be passed down—scientists believe that cancer may be inherited in some genes, but do not understand this mechanism fully

6. Cancer can be caused by exposure to carcinogens
Some common carcinogens are:
Arsenic
Nickel
Alcohol
Formaldehyde
Tobacco (even smokeless tobacco)
Sunlight
X-rays

8. Normal lung cells at 40x, can see vessel (left) and airway (right), many open spaces, thin membranes

9. Cancerous lung cells at 40x
Cancerous lung cells at 40x. Thickened membranes, spaces filled with cancer cells

10. Normal Lung Cells 100x, can see thin membranes, many open spaces, small vessels (bright pink)

11. Cancerous Lung Cells (100x), can see spaces are filled in and so are the vessels, membranes are thick

12. Cancer Prevention
According to some studies, nearly two out of three people can avoid cancer by..
-not smoking
-eating a low-fat diet with lots of fruits and vegetables
Other habits that help prevent cancer include:
Limiting the alcohol use
Including physical activity in your daily routine
Maintaining a healthy body weight
Reducing environmental exposure to carcinogens
Using sunscreen when outside
Frequent physical examinations by your doctor as well as self-examination are critical to detecting cancer early. The sooner cancer is diagnosed and treated, the better the chance for a cure.

13. Cancer Treatment Surgery to remove the tumors (sometimes too risky)
Chemotherapy = Use of drugs as treatment
Some of them prevent mitosis:
Vincristine – prevents spindle fibers from forming
Mitomycin C – makes Chromosomes sticky and prevents them from replicating
These drugs have side-effects and can affect normal cells, so their use is limited.
Radiation Therapy = use of radiation to treat cancer cells
Uses radiation to target cancer cells and kill them
Kills cancer cells more easily but also kills some normal cells

14. On a blank sheet of paper
Write down ONE question you have about cancer and one thing you know/heard about cancer
When you are finished, ball your piece of paper up and wait for instruction
DO NOT put your name on the paper