Deck 34: Cancer

Question 1

Cells can activate a genetic suicide program in response to a signal in the body.This programmed cell death is called ________.

Answer 1

apoptosis

Question 2

Which of the following is not a characteristic of cancerous cells?

A)immortality
B)contact inhibition
C)unusual shapes and sizes
D)All of the above are characteristics of cancerous cells.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

An adult patient has just received a diagnosis of brain cancer and is undergoing treatment.Based on what you know about cell division and cancer,why does this seem unusual?

Answer 3

In adults,neurons typically do not undergo mitosis.Since cancer is uncontrolled mitosis,it seems odd that neurons would become cancerous.Thus,it must be the glial cells of the central nervous system that are cancerous.

Question 4

Which statement is not correct concerning cell division and cancer?

A)Normal cells are limited in how many times they can divide.
B)Cancerous cells can become immortal.
C)Oncogenes protect against cancer.
D)Apoptosis can be used to kill cancerous cells in the body.

Question 5

Which of the following cancers is often not detected until a late stage because of a lack of routine diagnostic testing?

A)prostate
B)cervical
C)ovarian
D)breast

Question 6

How does chemotherapy work as a treatment for cancer? Why is it not always effective?

Question 7

________ can be detected through a blood test that detects a specific antigen called PSA.

Question 8

Which of the following is a typical means of halting normal cell division?

A)the shortening of telomeres
B)increasing the activity of p53
C)activating oncogenes
D)triggering apoptosis

Question 9

If a person had cancer that had already metastasized by the time of diagnosis,the treatment options at this point would most likely include ________.

A)surgery
B)radiation
C)chemotherapy
D)immunotherapy

Question 10

The removal and analysis of a piece of tissue that is suspected to be cancerous is called a(n)________.

Question 11

Certain new cancer therapies deal with the inhibition of angiogenesis (formation of blood vessels).How would inhibition of blood vessel formation be beneficial in terms of treating cancer?

Question 12

Dietary choices that can increase the risk of certain cancers include ________.

A)diets high in saturated fats
B)diets high in antioxidants
C)high-fiber diets
D)diets low in cured foods

Question 13

A(n)________ is an abnormal mass of tissue that is surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue and that usually remains at the site where it forms.

Question 14

Which type of cancer had the largest percentage of deaths among women in 2009?

A)breast
B)ovarian
C)pancreatic
D)lung and bronchus

Question 15

An allele known as BRCA1 is often found in women with breast and ovarian cancer.However,some women develop these cancers and do not have the BRCA1 allele.In addition,some women who have BRCA1 never develop breast or ovarian cancer.How can this be explained?

A)This must be an example of pleiotropy.
B)These types of cancers are in no way associated with specific alleles.
C)Something other than the gene must factor into whether cancer develops.
D)The BRCA1 allele must be dominant.

Question 16

An oncologist (a physician that specializes in cancer)compares two biopsy samples by looking at the percentage of cells in mitosis.Sample #1 has 15% of cells in mitosis and Sample #2 has 8% of cells in mitosis.These samples are of the same tissue type.Which sample is likely to be cancerous and why? Why is it important that the two samples being compared came from the same tissue type?

Question 17

Explain why malignant tumors are more dangerous than benign tumors.

Question 18

In order to be successful,chemotherapy drugs have to stop cell division.The most likely method for this would be to ________.

A)denature all the enzymes in the cell so division can't occur
B)speed up the cell cycle in the cancerous cells
C)stop cellular respiration so the cancerous cells don't have energy
D)interfere with the function of the spindle fibers

Question 19

________ is a treatment method in which rapidly dividing cells are killed using drugs instead of radiation.

Question 20

Describe the cancer stem cell hypothesis.How might this explain the inability of traditional cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy to completely eradicate tumors?