Unit 2: Cancer
Home Up Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Lesson 8 Lesson 9 Lesson 10

    We are moving on from genetic diseases to cancer.  You see, cancer is not considered a genetic disease.  It can happen to any person, whether or not they have a family history (but once a family history is involved, there can be a genetic component).  We will learn how cancer tends to come about, why it can be so deadly, and then how people are trying to fight it (and why there are so many complications to treatment).

    Here are some facts about cancer to help you begin to understand how it fits into these lessons:

bulletCancer starts off as a problem in a single cell.  That first cell is then considered to be a cancerous cell.  There are many things that can influence that first cell to become cancerous:
bulletan environmental influence, like UV rays from the sun, can mess up a cell so that it becomes cancerous
bulletother factors that a person can be exposed to, like X-rays or cigarette smoke, or other "carcinogens," can cause a cell to become cancerous
bulleta genetic predisposition may also exist so that after a while, a person may be likely to have a cell become cancerous.  We know that some cancers do have a genetic component to their likelihood of occurring-- like breast cancer.
bulletThe cancerous cell usually divides out of control, so that a mass of cancerous cells are found.  This mass of cells is called a tumor.
bulletSometimes the cells within the tumor begin to creep and crawl around.  If the cells move around, new tumors will develop wherever they go.  This kind of spreading cancer is called metastatic cancer.
bulletWe can fight cancer with chemotherapy-- a chemical treatment system.  This treatment affects cells' abilities to divide and move, which are both important to cancer cells.

You will be learning about cells, the ways they move, and the ways they divide in this unit.  Do you see how all of these things relate to cancer?  You will also be learning a lot more about genes, and this will help you to understand what occurs when a cell gets "messed up" to become cancerous.

    When it is possible to re-connect with muscular dystrophy, we will.   And I will also bring up cloning a little bit when it becomes possible.   However, the main focus of these next few weeks will be cancer.

Lessons in this unit:

bulletLesson 5:  Cells Part 1
bulletLesson 6:  Cells Part 2
bulletLesson 7:  Transport across membranes
bulletLesson 8:  Genes and Cell Division
bulletLesson 9:  Cell Cycle & Chromosomes
bulletLesson 10:  DNA and genes

 

© 2006 STCC Foundation Press, content by Dawn A. Tamarkin, Ph.D.

Last changed: January 21, 2007