BIOL 3120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Carcinogen, Malignancy, Metastasis
Document Summary
Neoplasm or tumor: abnormal mass of tissue as a result of abnormal growth and division. Benign: incapable of indefinite growth, do not invade surrounding tissues. During metastasis, some of the cancer cells are separated from the original tumor mass and are transferred by blood or lymph to other parts of the body where they can reside and proliferate. In this way, a primary tumor at one site can give rise to a secondary tumor at another site. Carcinogen: any chemical substances, physical agents or types of radiation that can induce dna mutations and lead to the development of cancer. Oncogene: a gene that encodes a protein capable of inducing malignant transformation. Proto-oncogene: normal growth promoting genes essential for cells survival, when mutated or produced in inappropriate amounts, a proto-oncogene becomes an oncogene. Viral oncogene: any cancer-promoting sequence carried by a virus that can induce transformation in infected host cells.