BIO315H5 Study Guide - Final Guide: Cell Adhesion Molecule, Tumor Suppressor Gene, Coevolution

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18 Apr 2016
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The clonal nature of cancer cells cancer is a clonal disease: means there is a single cell that become abnormal by acquiring a genetic mutation. It doesn"t always have to be genetic but it has to be a change that is passed on, heritable. As time progresses descendants will inherit more changes. ex of clonal cells: chronic myeloid leukemia. In this cancer, patients have a chromosomal translocation that occurs between chromosome 9 and 22. Cancer cells contain somatic mutations, which means mutations exist in cells of body and not of the germ cells. Tumor cells contain one or more shared detectable abnormalities in their dna sequence that distinguish them from normal cells surrounding the tissue. Changes may be genetic (altering dna sequence) or epigenetic (persistent, heritable changes in gene expression resulting from modifications of chromatin structure without alteration of dna sequence)