A malignant group of uncontrollably dividing cells that form a tumour. Questions regarding (proto)oncogenes and tumour-suppressor genes should also use this tag.
2
votes
1answer
21 views
By what mechanism is Streptococcus bovis acting as a risk factor for colorectal cancer?
Streptococcus bovis bacteremia/endocarditis is considered a risk factor for colorectal cancer. What pathophysiological mechanism may link the two together?
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Why is Sanger sequencing inferior for detecting SNPs in cancer cells?
I am familiar with Sanger sequencing, but at the level of an undergraduate. A lecturer of mine tried to describe Sanger sequencing as losing the sequence information in noise when used to detect ...
4
votes
1answer
46 views
Breeding laboratory mice with cancer; how does this work?
It has recently been brought to my attention that live laboratory mice with specific cancer strains can be readily purchased for medical research. For example, the Jackson Laboratory sells mice with ...
3
votes
1answer
45 views
Why it is so difficult to treat leukemia?
I want to ask what is the reason that T315I type CML leukemia is currently untreatable. I have read quite a few papers in this subject. Why the current genetic oriented engineering drugs failed to ...
2
votes
1answer
32 views
EGFR, sialylation, and cancer progression
EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) has been intensively studied in cancer and treatments have been developed to inhibit EGFR signaling. Sialylation of EGFR is known to block dimerization and ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
How Common are Paraneoplastic Syndromes in Cancer Patients?
I recall reading around one in four cancer patients will suffer a paraneoplastic syndrome during the course of their illness but I can't find where I read this and I can't find any reliable sources to ...
0
votes
2answers
53 views
What is a “tool strain”?
When a biologist is talking about a genetically engineered mouse strain which is a "tool strain", what does that mean? What is the exact definition of a tool strain? What is the difference between a ...
8
votes
1answer
108 views
Can plants get cancer?
I can't think of any reason why plants wouldn't be able to get cancer, but I've never heard of a plant growing a tumor. I've also never seen a plant with a noticeable abnormal growth. Can plants get ...
6
votes
1answer
93 views
How does Topoisomerase II inhibition affect cancer cells?
Topoisomerase II poisons represent some of the most important and
widely prescribed anticancer drugs currently in clinical use. These
drugs encompass a diverse group of natural and synthetic ...
2
votes
2answers
32 views
Studying changes in DNA for causes of cancer
First of all let me say that I'm not into Biology myself... but I have a question for those of you who are.
From what I've read, cancer is caused by 'faulty' DNA that behaves abnormally. Mutations ...
1
vote
1answer
19 views
Do Fatty Acid Synthase Inhibitors Selectively induce Apoptosis in Cancer cells without inducing the same in healthy human cells?
Do Fatty Acid Synthase (FAS) Inhibitors (e.g. cerulenin) selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells without inducing the same in healthy human cells?
4
votes
3answers
87 views
Can a tumor produce something not currently found in our own bodies?
While speaking with my co-workers, the topic of tumors growing things came up. The examples were (and backed by images) of tumors growing a tooth, hair, and sometimes even more complex objects such ...
6
votes
1answer
70 views
What are the biological mechanisms behind the increase in cancer risk and alcohol consumption?
Alcohol consumption is known to be a risk factor for developing cancer. Compared to obvious causes like tobacco where one is exposed to known carcinogens, I don't see an obvious mechanism by which ...
2
votes
1answer
30 views
What range of dose should be used?
This is a dose-response experiment testing a new cancer drug. the darker line represents cancer cells. what range of dose should be used? I think it's 2-4 because this affects cancer cells only. is ...
4
votes
1answer
63 views
Why do we think chronic inflammation can cause cancer?
Why do we think chronic inflammation can cause cancer? I know the pathway is not fully understood, but what makes scientists believe that inflammation causes cancer?
1
vote
1answer
109 views
How can the Ames test detect a human carcinogen?
Using the Ames test, we add a mutagen to auxotrophic salmonella with mutations in the histidine pathway and rat liver extract to simulate metabolism. How would we know if the carcinogen is a human ...
8
votes
1answer
158 views
Can cancer grow forever if supplied with unlimited resources?
If somehow a human could give a tumor unlimited resources, would the cancer grow forever? It seems like it would until it gets so large that it physically affects vital organs. Is what would likely ...
1
vote
1answer
50 views
Which cells will pass cancer to offspring?
Each of these types below contains a DNA mutation. Which type(s) will affect the children of the individual whose cell it is.
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10
votes
1answer
125 views
Why do most breast cancers occur in women?
According to Korde et al. (2010):
Male breast cancer accounts for less than 1% of all cancers in men and less than 1% of breast cancers.
This raises the question: Why do most breast cancers ...
-1
votes
1answer
36 views
What causes mutations in regulatory genes? [closed]
In detail, what causes mutations in regulatory genes?
2
votes
1answer
77 views
In cancer, why do cells duplicate themselves?
In regards to cancer why do cells replicate themselves? If it's a mutation, what kind of mutation would this be classified as?
6
votes
5answers
185 views
What is the lowest common denominator of cancer?
What is the lowest level attribute that all cancers share? Also, what is the highest level attributes that all cancers share?
4
votes
1answer
32 views
Where can I find histograms and tables of prevalence of mutations in cancer?
At some point in the past I found a cancer portal site which had aggregated data for the relationships between various mutations and their prevalence in cancer types and tumor data. The data was ...
2
votes
2answers
84 views
Do both TSG and Proto-oncogenes have to suffer mutations to cause cancer?
I'm having a conceptual nightmare trying to understand when a group of cells may become cancerous and the more resources I consult the more confused I seem to get.
In order for a cell to become ...
0
votes
0answers
99 views
Text Book on Cancer Genomics/Biology [closed]
Could anyone of you suggest few of the best text book(s) for Cancer Genomics/Biology from basic to advance level.
6
votes
1answer
144 views
How similar are Circulating Tumor Cells and Cancer Stem Cells?
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are linked with metastasis and their presence can be used to indicate the onset of metastatic cancer. Likewise, the Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) hypothesis suggests that ...
7
votes
1answer
81 views
Why doesn't yearly screening for lung cancer decrease mortality rates?
In a large trial, screening yearly for lung cancer hasn't reduced mortality rates. Why is this? Isn't cancer best treatable when caught early? Is this because lung cancer is hard to treat anyway, ...
4
votes
3answers
124 views
Robotic surgery for treating cancer?
We can localise cancer cells in the body. We can manufacture materials thin and hard enough to penetrate the body without harming it. So what stops us from creating an automated surgery where the ...
7
votes
1answer
164 views
Do larger multicellular organisms have an increased risk of mutation and thus cancer?
So I was thinking that if each cell has P(X) of becoming cancerous, then the chance of cancer is 1-((1-P(X))^n) where n is the number of cells in the organism.
Since larger organisms have more cells ...
11
votes
1answer
278 views
Looking for a cancer drug target database to guide sequencing of patient tumor DNA
I have a question I would like to pose to the community. I have recently received access to a bench-top ion torrent DNA sequencer. Our idea is to use this machine to sequence the DNA from patient’s ...
9
votes
1answer
84 views
What is the base cancer rate for an arbitrary carcinogen?
Are all carcinogens equally potent? Is the relationship between dose and probability of cancer roughly equal, or are there some carcinogens that provoke cancer significantly more than their cousins?
