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Biology Reflection

Decent Essays

This semester I enrolled Biology 101 course with Dr. Smith-Pearson. One of our assignments this semester was an outside of the classroom volunteer project. For this project I was selected to participate in the Tri- Beta Breast Cancer Walk. As participants, we had to do several things to prepare for the volunteer event including a learning session. During this session, we learned exactly what breast cancer is, the different types, and the main causes. I further learned about breast cancer through a scientific aspect in my biology class. We learned that cancer is when cells are over actively reproduced, which is caused by a mutation in the cell cycle and suppresses our bodies ability to function normally to stop this. Also, we learned about some of the different subtypes of breast cancer like, HER2+ (ER-), Basal-Like (Triple Negative Breast Cancer), Normal-Like, Luminal A, and Luminal B. HER2+ (ER-) breast cancer is less common, but it is very aggressive. HER2 is a gene in our bodies that produces receptor proteins, which are responsible for regulating the growth and repair of breast cells. When these HER2 receptor proteins are expressed too much, it causes excessive reproduction of breast cells. It is thought that African Americans have a higher risk for this type. Basal-Like, or more commonly called, Triple Negative Breast Cancer is very aggressive, usually the most aggressive. Basal-like means that the ways the cells look with this cancer resemble cells that line

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