BIOL3108 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Tumor Microenvironment, Cancer Stem Cell, Stem Cell
Document Summary
Lecture 19: cancer stem cells and the tumour. Reflects the multiple lines of defence against cancer established within our cells. Stability of dna underpins our bodies defence against cancer. Cells must breach multiple lines of defence to acquire rare mutational events for cancer initiation and progression. In western populations, where deaths from infectious diseases are relatively infrequent, 1 person in 5 destined to die from cancer. How do cancer cell populations accomplish what seems to be the impossible i. e. acquiring a substantial array of mutant alleles over a period of several decades. Researchers attempted to resolve this quandary as far back as 1974: Proposed the explanation was a drastic increase in mutation rate: cell populations en route to malignancy carry more mutable genomes than normal cells -> they coined the term mutator phenotype. Such speculation has received increasing support in recent years, as complex genetic and genomic instability has been documented in the genomes of cancer cells.
