Deck 15: Cancer Genetics and Genomics

Question 1

What makes telomerase a viable target for cancer therapies?

A) Activating this gene can help the body fight cancer
B) Activating this gene can enhance tumor suppressor capabilities
C) This gene is not expressed in most somatic cells but is activated by many cancers
D) Mutations in this gene are the precipitating event in many cancers
E) This gene is not expressed in any cells after human development is complete

Answer 1

This gene is not expressed in most somatic cells but is activated by many cancers

Question 2

Which of the following types of genes promotes cell proliferation and survival and, when mutated, can cause cancer?

A) Protooncogene
B) Oncogene
C) Tumor suppressor
D) Mismatch repair protein
E) Telomerase

Answer 2

Protooncogene

Question 3

Which of the following cancers have a genetic basis?

A) Breast
B) Colon
C) Prostate
D) Retinoblastoma
E) All of the above

Answer 3

All of the above

Question 4

In addition to mutations in the coding region and regulatory elements, oncogenes often arise by which type of mutation?

A) Gene amplification
B) Nonhomologous recombination
C) Splice mutations
D) Interstitial deletions
E) Inversions

Question 5

What is the likely mechanism by which chromosome 8;14 translocations cause Burkitt lymphoma?

A) It puts a protooncogene downstream of a strong promoter
B) It fuses a protooncogene with another protein and alters its activity
C) It deletes its opposing tumor suppressor
D) It deletes a regulatory region for the gene
E) It removes its 3' UTR

Question 6

What pattern of inheritance does hereditary retinoblastoma exhibit at a phenotypic level?

A) Autosomal recessive with nearly complete penetrance
B) Autosomal dominant with nearly complete penetrance
C) Autosomal recessive with incomplete penetrance
D) Autosomal dominant with incomplete penetrance
E) X linked recessive

Question 7

What chromosomal defect is found in the Philadelphia chromosome, which is associated with chronic myelogenous leukemia?

A) Inversion
B) Interstitial deletion
C) Duplication
D) Translocation
E) Terminal deletion

Question 8

Which of the following are types of tumor suppressors?

A) Telomerase
B) Transcription factors controlling cell growth
C) Inhibitors of apoptosis
D) Growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases
E) Cell cycle checkpoint proteins

Question 9

How does the Philadelphia chromosome activate an oncogene?

A) It puts a protooncogene downstream of a strong promoter
B) It fuses a protooncogene with another protein and alters its activity
C) It deletes its opposing tumor suppressor
D) It deletes a regulatory region for the gene
E) It removes its 3'-untranslated region (UTR)

Question 10

What function does a cancer stem cell serve in cancer development?

A) It can go on to produce any type of cancer
B) It gives rise to multiple lineages of genetically unstable cells that can each undergo additional mutation
C) It is resistant to chemotherapy
D) It contains all genetic variation found in the tumor
E) It is the cell that is inherited from a parent in Mendelian cancers

Question 11

In addition to loss of heterozygosity, the second hit in sporadic breast cancers with breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA1) or breast cancer gene 2 (BRCA2) mutations is often which of the following?

A) Methylation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 promoter
B) Acetylation of the BRCA2 or BRCA2 promoter
C) Deletion of the tumor-associated transplantation antigen (TATA) box in BRCA1 or BRCA2
D) Deletion of a BRCA1 or BRCA2 enhancer
E) Nonsense mutation in BRCA2 or BRCA2

Question 12

Which of the following are used as criteria to decide whether genetic testing for hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) is appropriate?

A) Family history
B) Clinical information on the cancer
C) Microsatellite instability testing
D) Staining for the presence of mismatch repair proteins
E) All of the above

Question 13

Which of the following can be cancer-associated genes by virtue of their ability to directly regulate the expression of protooncogenes and tumor suppressors, but which themselves are noncoding?

A) Telomerase
B) Cell cycle checkpoint genes
C) Transfer RNAs (tRNAs)
D) Micro RNAs (miRNAs)
E) Ribosomal RNA (rRNAs)

Question 14

In retinoblastoma, the "second-hit" mutation is:

A) Always inherited
B) Always somatic
C) Sometimes somatic
D) An activating mutation
E) A truncating mutation

Question 15

Mutations in what type of gene cause hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer?

A) Genes involved in recombination
B) Mismatch repair genes
C) Receptor tyrosine kinases
D) G proteins
E) Transcription factors

Question 16

Which of the following molecular phenotypes is associated with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer?

A) Caspase activation
B) Excessive recombination
C) Microsatellite instability
D) DNA fragmentation
E) Nondisjunction

Question 17

Which of the following is more characteristic of hereditary retinoblastoma than sporadic retinoblastoma?

A) Bilateral tumors
B) Later age of onset
C) Loss of heterozygosity
D) Two-hit mutational mechanism
E) Lower recurrence risk

Question 18

What proportion of all cancers are hereditary cancer syndromes?

A) 5%
B) 10%
C) 25%
D) 50%
E) 100%

Question 19

Normally, the p53 protein responds to which of the following?

A) Cellular starvation
B) Shortened telomeres
C) DNA damage
D) Cellular contact
E) Phosphate levels

Question 20

Which type of mutation in MEN2 most commonly causes Hirschsprung disease and pheochromocytoma, respectively?

A) Loss of function, gain of function
B) Gain of function, loss of function
C) Duplication, loss of function
D) Loss of function, duplication
E) Deletion, duplication

Question 21

Which of the following infectious agents is an environmental risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma?

A) Epstein-Barr virus
B) Herpes simplex virus type 2
C) Varicella zoster
D) Hepatitis B
E) Hepatitis A

Question 22

Exposure to what agent is a strong environmental risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma in certain parts of the world?

A) Ricin
B) Colchicine
C) Aflatoxin
D) Curare
E) β-amanitin

Question 23

Which of the following is associated with gene amplification of protooncogenes?

A) Homogeneously stained regions
B) Microsatellite instability
C) Double minute chromosomes
D) A and B
E) A and C

Question 24

Reduced activity for which of the following proteins has been associated with decreased risk of lung cancer due to cigarette exposure?

A) p53
B) RB
C) CYP2D6
D) FAS
E) MLH1