PSY 005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Tumor Suppressor Gene, Genetic Variation, P53
12 Sep 2020
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Document Summary
Cancer is a pandemic disease that claims over 6 million lives each year. It is the single largest cause of death for men and women. About 80% of cancers are believed to have an environmental cause and these include: radiation, natural chemicals (e. g. aflatoxins), man-made chemicals and carcinogenic viruses. Chemical carcinogens can be classified into five main groups: alkylating agents, nitroso compounds, azo dyes, aromatic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs). The latter are the subject of this lecture since they are the largest and most studied group (phillips 1983). There are five main groups of chemical carcinogens: Chemical carcinogens: alkylating agents, aromatic amines, azo dyes, nitroso compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 1, 2 and 5 are all genotoxic carcinogens: describes the property of chemical agents that damages the genetic information within a cell causing mutations, which may lead to cancer. While genotoxicity is often confused with mutagenicity, all mutagens are genotoxic, however, not all genotoxic substances are mutagenic.
