EHS 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 32: Cell Adhesion, Apoptosis, Sex Steroid

• School: UMass Boston
• Department: Exercise and Health Science
• Course: EHS 260
• Professor: Commesso Dana

Document Summary

Cancer is not one disease, but a set of diseases characterized by unregulated cell growth leading to invasion of surrounding tissues and spread to other parts of the body. In developed countries, the lifetime risk of developing cancer is around 1 in 3. Stick together in the right place (cell adhesion); Do not obey signals from neighbouring cells; Can become detached from the primary tumour and travel to other parts of the body; Do not become specialized, but stay immature; Do not die if they move to another part of the body. Damage to a cell"s dna is called mutation. Cancer derives from an accumulation of errors. Most cancers are initiated by exposure to some environmental agent chemicals, radiation, viruses. There is no single cause cancer is a multifactorial disease. Genes that increase susceptibility, e. g. two genes are known to increase risk for breast cancer; Diets high in fat, meat, salt or alcohol increase risk for some cancers;