Cancer+articles+questions-+kat

=__Cancer Article Questions__= 1. The article begins by mentioning two important people with cancer. Who is Elizabeth Edwards? Who is Tony Snow? (Include their politcal party, job, and current health status-this article was written in April-your answer should have more than what you can find in the article) Elizabeth Edwards is a 57 year old women who is the wife of presidential candidate John Edwards. Tony Snow is the press secretary to George Bush. Both Edwards and Snow had cancer that had been treated but came back and metastasized, hers spread from breast to bone and his from colon to liver.

2. What is a metastatic cancer cell? A metastatic cancer cell is one the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part.

3. Why does the author call cancer cells barbarians and cannibals? The author calls cancer cells barbarians and cannibals because they take away all the nutrients in their adopted organ and starve their neighbors of air, salts, sugars, and block traffic and clog conduits, and once their greed is succeeded, they feast on surrounding cells like cannibals.

4. What do we know about the events that transform a normal cell to a cancer cell? Scientists have identified genetic mutations and chromosomal aberrations that prompt cells to think they are being stimulated by growth hormones when they are not, that stifle safety signals meant to keep cell division in check, and that shore up the tips of chromosomes and so immortalize cells that otherwise would be slated to die.

5. Why is harder to study metastatic cancer cells? It's harder to study metastatic cancer cells because the initial stages of malignant transformation can be analyzed in vitro, metastatic is a matter of cells on the move and must be studied in the body.

6. How many cells do primary tumors shed each day (in a rodent)? Yet how many metastatic tumors do these rodents have? Primary tumors shed about a million to a billion cells are shed each day. Metastases formed on a rodent may be counted on one hand.

7. Describe two ways metastatic cells can travel through the body avoiding detection from our immune system. One way metastatic cells travel through the body avoiding detection from our immune system is they reinvent themselves are parasites. Another way the travel through the body is by acting like "hitchhikers" and attracting an entourage of platelets and red blood cells to their surface to take them to "safe pools" within tissues.

8. Where is the first site (oasis for the cancer cell) that metastasis generally occurs? Why? Why is it an oasis? (What is an oasis?) The first site that metastasis generally occurs is at a wound site, which is where the cancer cells seep in and begin to feed on the growth of hormones. This is because the cancer cells like to attack our normal cells to chance them into cancer cells. It is an oasis because it is an ideal place for the cancer cells to go.

9. What is a dormant micrometastasis? Why are they relevant to human health? Dormant micrometastasis is when malignant cells have settled into a new site of the body and their replication of more cells can either die or become dormant. This is relevant to human health because someone might have dormant cancer cells and not know it, so they need to be weary of certain conditions.

10. What evidence do we have that metastasis occurs in organs that are similar to the organ of the primary tumor? Give two examples. Evidence suggests that micrometastases will not attain macro dimensions unless, among other things, they adapt to their new surroundings and interact with their neighbors enough to exploit them. Breast tumors are known to metastasize to bone tissue, where the invasive cells perversely take advantage of their ability to gather calcium ions for breast milk and apply it to the rampant dissolution of calcium-rich bone. Malignant melanoma spreads readily to the brain, presumably because neural tissue and the melanocytes that give rise to melanoma both arise from the same class of cells during gestation.