Exam 12: Genes and Cancer

Scientists now believe that cancer can be caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Describe two environmental factors that may cause cancer regardless of your genetic make-up. What kinds of cancers do these factors usually cause?

Most (90 percent) of all cases of ____________________ cancer involve mutations of the MSH2 or MLH1 genes, which destabilize the genome.

Which of the following best describes the effect of cancer-causing mutations on the cell cycle?

Some people have a genetic predisposition to cancer. Explain.

Which of the following is a characteristic of all cancers?

The drug herceptin (tratuzumab) functions by _____________.

The variability among people in sensitivity to environmental carcinogens is partly genetic.

Myelogenous leukemia is caused by a mutant tumor-suppressing gene.

What phrase best describes the field of epidemiology?

Some cancers can be considered to be multifactorial since both genes and environment are involved in their expression.

The products of both the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes bind to a protein involved in repair of ____________________ (what kind of DNA damage?).

Products of tumor-suppressor genes act at control points in the cell cycle.

The ras gene is an example of a tumor-suppressing gene.

The pRB protein associated with retinoblastoma, if normal and present,

When a cell stops dividing by mitosis, at which stage of the cell cycle does it stop?

Mutations of the tumor-suppressor gene ____________________ are pivotal in formation of many cancers.

All breast cancers result from a recessively inherited gene that suppresses cell division.

The anticancer drug Gleevec works by blocking the ____________________-binding site of a protein, which would otherwise activate a signal protein to induce cell division.

Discuss what tumor-suppressor genes do and give an example of a disorder where these tumor-suppressor genes may be missing.

While oncogenes are responsible for cancer cells, tumor-suppressing genes are responsible for tumorous tissues.