The Catalogue Of Somatic Mutations Essay

Cancer is defined as a disease caused by an uncontrollable division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. Cancer can be caused by many variables in one’s environment and the variables that are more likely to cause cancer are often referred to carcinogens. Carcinogens are harmful factors that can increase one’s chance of developing a form of cancer. Carcinogens can be anything from ultra violet rays to dust particles from wood; tobacco is one of the most well-known carcinogens because it increases one’s chances of developing lung cancer by a stagger amount. The reason tobacco has the ability to make such an impact is because tobacco contains more than 70 carcinogens altogether. When it comes down to it, the carcinogens are all working together

Lung cancer can be caused by multiple factors and many factors can work together to cause someone to have lung cancer. Besides smoking, radon, secondhand smoke, the environment and someone’s occupation can all cause lung cancer. As we already know smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer cases worldwide and over forty-three million people just in the United States smoke cigarettes. There are more than fifty chemicals in tobacco smoke that are ingested each time someone smokes. Some of these chemicals include benzene (which can be found in pesticides and gasoline), Formaldehyde (which preserve dead bodies), pesticides (which are found on lawns and gardens) and Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (Martin, 2012). When a person inhales the chemicals in cigarettes, they inhale thousands of poisons, toxic metals, and

A mutation is any type of alteration or change in DNA. There are many types of mutations that can occur. Depurination and deamination are common mutations that happen spontaneously. Depurination is a hydrolysis reaction that leads to the loss of purines in DNA. Deamination is also a hydrolysis reaction, and the cause of this reaction is an amino group gets detached. These types of mutations cause an alteration in the base sequence of amino acids and also effect the way a gene reads a protein. Another cause of DNA mutations may be environmental elements such as: chemicals or radiation. (pg. 567) A common chemical that is a mutagen is cigarettes and a example of

There are twelve major types of cancer that affect most Americans and they can be related by the mutation of genes. Cancer is not just one disease, but a massive group with over 100 diseases by unrestrained and vicarious growth of the cells in the body and have the ability of the cells to propagate. One out of every four Americans will die from cancer. It is the second leading cause of death in this country, surpassed only by heart disease. Five to ten percent of cancer are genetic and hereditary. 1.2 million new cases are found in every year the United States, “Men have a one in two lifetime risk of developing cancer, and for women the risk is one in three” (Freivogel 201).

According to the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) the researchers identified a large region on human chromosome 6 that conferred greater lung cancer risk in families with many affected individuals. Subsequent painstaking analysis to pinpoint the source of the elevated risk now has paid off with the identification of the precise culprit, a gene called RGS17. Researchers conducted fine-mapping of the suspect region of chromosome 6 in members of families in which five or more individuals over multiple generations were diagnosed with lung cancer. The region contains approximately 100 genes. Precise computational analysis uncovered similar variants in the DNA sequence for members of the families with lung cancer. These variants, called single nucleotide polymorphisms (or SNPS) directed the researchers to the RGS17 gene. The conclusions of this analysis are that RGS17 plays a major role in lung cancer susceptibility, and individuals who carry the higher-risk version of this gene have an increased susceptibility to lung cancer when exposed to environmental risk factors, such as smoking. While the research showed that RGS17 is an important gene for lung cancer susceptibility in families with a high incidence of lung cancer, the researchers did not see any

An irritant, such as cigarette smoke, effects the cells of the epithelium lining. Initially the body can repair the cell, but with repeated exposure the cells of the lungs become damaged and grow uncontrollably. P53 is a gene for various downstream targets that are involved in cell progression, DNA repair and regulation of cells that undergo apoptosis. Mutations to P53 hinder its normal tumor suppressing capabilities. Therefore, DNA damage remains unchecked, faulty cells proceed through the cell cycle and apoptosis is invaded. All these factors create a genetic condition where the cell is more susceptible to further mutation. If the cancer grows large enough, it can affect the organ by closing off the aveoli, leading to shortness of

Cancer can be caused by a plethora of things, i.e. mutation through viruses, chemical or radiations, carcinogens. Mutation, a type of evolution, is any change in the nucleotide sequence of a cell’s DNA (Reece 199), this may come about by having a virus, exposure to certain chemicals and radiation, after the mutation, there is no reversing it and hence can be transferred genetically to any children. A carcinogen defined by Encyclopedia Britannica is, “any of a number of agents that can cause cancer in humans,” which leads to mutation. After

Cancer is a disease that plagues millions of people annually (“Lung”). Lung cancer develops when healthy cells in the lungs are compromised by chemicals, pathogens, or radiation (Henderson). In the early twentieth century, before cigarette smoking and toxic man-made air pollutants became more commonplace, lung cancer was relatively rare (Henderson). It is now the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, resulting in an estimated 1.3 million deaths annually (“Lung”). Lung cancer is second only to breast cancer as the leading cause of death in women worldwide (“Lung”). In the United States, however, lung cancer is the leading cause of death in women (“Lung”). Lung cancer can occur at any age, but it occurs primarily between the ages of forty-five and seventy-five (“Lung”). The four leading causes of lung cancer are smoking cigarettes, exposure to radon, secondhand smoke, and asbestos exposure.

Everybody carries some genes that are protective against cancer; these genes correct any DNA damage that occurs naturally: when cells divide. However, some genes are not altered and when they are inherited they raise the risk of developing cancer.

In the United States, tobacco smoking is by far the leading cause of lung cancer, which includes non-small cell lung cancer. About 80% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking, and many others are caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. Smoking is clearly the strongest risk factor for non-small cell lung cancer, but it often interacts with other factors. Smokers exposed to other known risk factors such as radon and asbestos are at even higher risk. However, not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer, so other factors like genetics likely play a role as well. 85% to 90% of lung cancer are non-small cell lung cancer. Around 80% of the individuals who are determined to have non-small cell lung cancer are individuals who smoke or are presented to used smoking. The individuals who smoke have a higher risk to get lung cancer in than those who acquire DNA mutations from their ancestors.

Information collected from: Dunning III & Fischbach (2011), Pagana et al., (2013), Lab Tests Online (n.d.) and Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC) personal

Cancer is a systemic disease that directly affects the region of onset and can metastasize to other sites, causing a variety of complications and loss of progressive organ function. The development of the disease may be initially slow or rapidly evolving, unavoidably affecting nutritional status (Santarpia et al., 2011). It is essentially a consequence of genetic mutations within a cell, which result in the proliferation of abnormal cells. Cancer represents a major global public health Problem. Worldwide, it accounts for 7.1 million deaths annually (12.6% of the global total); it is the leading cause of death in old age, with more than 70% of cancers occurring in those aged over 65 years (von Meyenfeldt, 2005). The World Health Organization

Cancer disease imposes a global threat to public health. Epidemiological data clearly show an increase of cancer diffusion over the world every year. Moreover to genetic factors that are crucial for cancer formation and development, environmental factors are important for its progression and advanced. These include lifestyle as tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, industry and microbial factors as radiation, pollution, infection and diet

Research in cancer occurs in a wide range of scientific fields. The major categories of research are: – laboratory; – epidemiological; – clinical; – psychosocial and behavioural; – health systems and health policies. Most laboratory research is currently conducted in industrialized countries. It focuses on the elucidation of the biological mechanisms underlying cancer. Recent investigations of genetic and molecular/biological processes have produced dramatic and very promising results. Despite this, the causes underlying some of the most common cancer types are not yet well understood. Epidemiology helps to identify environmental or human behavioral factors associated with cancer, even if the underlying mechanism is not clear, thus enabling

DNA, the double polymer composed of nucleotides, is directly responsible for the production of proteins via RNA. When a change occurs in a stand of DNA the resulting strand is mutated. An example of this could be a in the form of a frameshift mutation where a nucleotide sequence is either inserted or deleted from a sequence resulting in a new, and likely defective stand. This defective strand would then transcribe defective RNA, which would lead to mutated proteins being produced. These mutated proteins could have devastating effect on the body allowing cells to go unchecked with the end product being tumors or