CANC 380 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS ALL CORRECT
What happens to cells in the second phase of metastasis? - Answer- Acquire motile
phenotype through increased HGF-MET signaling
Invade surrounding stroma
Migrate towards blood and lymphatic vessels
What facilitates increase motility and invasion? - Answer- Scatter factors
What are scatter factors? - Answer- Involved in pathways that enable cells to detach
from one another and invade the ECMs
What is a key scatter factor? - Answer- Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)
Biggest achievements from cancer research since war was declared on cancer -
Answer- First cancer vaccine (Gardasil)
Immunotherapy
Screening - evidence for origins of cancer in populations
Two important developments in cancer research over the last 40 years - Answer-
Mapping of the human genome
Knowledge about lifestyle factors
What is wrong with cancer research being misrepresented in the media? - Answer-
Breakthroughs are often reported using incomplete information
Drugs need to be deemed safe before they can be used for the public
Evolutionary biology of cancer - Answer- Similarities between Darwinian evolution and
cancer development
Focus on the mechanisms driving cancer development
Principles of Darwinian evolution - Answer- Evolution by natural selection
All living things are descendants of a common ancestor with each new species more
adapted to their native environment
Cancer - Answer- Collection of related diseases where some of the body's cells begin to
divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues
,Origin of Carcinoma - Answer- Greek for crab - because of spreading projections from
tumour
Origin of Oncos - Answer- Greek for swelling, used to describe cancer specialists
Old theory of cancer - Answer- Cancer was an imbalance of the four humours -
specifically an excess of black bile and imbalance of lymph
Caused by chronic irritation, trauma or parasites
Later: take biology and chemistry into account, genes specifically
Old Treatments - Answer- Surgery has always been an option - pain and suffering with
high chance of cancer recurrence
New Treatments - Answer- Imaging technologies with pharmacological treatment - more
successful surgery
Important considerations missing during the War on Cancer - Answer- Biological
understanding of cancer
Cancer is a complex set of diseases from fundamental parts of our biology
Impact of cancer on health - Answer- Serious problem in Canada - 1/2 of all people
Serious impact on DALY because of premature deaths
Impact of cancer on research - Answer- Nixon declared war - more funding of cancer
research
What is natural selection based off of? - Answer- That individuals with a favourable set
of traits for their environment are more likely to survive and produce viable offspring
than individuals with less favourable traits
How does natural selection work? - Answer- Random genetic mutations
Beneficial mutations are passed on to offspring and detrimental are lost because those
organisms are less likely to survive
What organism would be more fit/have greater fitness? - Answer- One that is better
adapted to the environment
What are three requirements for natural selection? - Answer- Variation in the population
Variation must be heritable
Variation must influence survival or fitness of members of the population
How does natural selection work at a cellular level? - Answer- Observed more rapidly -
cells reproduce at a faster rate which gives more opportunity for selection of favourable
traits
, Reproductive/survival advantage via random genetic mutations
Advantage results in proliferation of that population of cells
Clone - Answer- Group of cells that are derived from the same parent cell
Share the same ancestry and same genetics
Sub-clone - Answer- Progeny of a mutant cell arising from a clone
What is the outcome of natural selection at the cellular level? - Answer- Decreased
fitness of the organism as a whole
Selective pressures - Answer- Any environmental factors or conditions that diminish the
reproductive success of certain variants of a population
Contributes to natural selection
What are examples of selective pressures at a cellular level? - Answer-
Microenvironmental factors
Presence of drugs
How many directions can evolution take? - Answer- 3: divergent, convergent, parallel
evolution
Divergent evolution - Answer- Occurs when populations of a single species accumulate
enough phenotypic differences to diversify and become separate species
How does divergent evolution relate to cancer? - Answer- Cancer cells are constantly
dividing and growing which results in subclones with different mutations
Cells are variants of each other and confer heterogeneity to a tumour
Convergent evolution - Answer- Occurs when two unrelated species that do not share a
common ancestor develop analogous structures due to similar environmental selective
pressures
How does convergent evolution relate to cancer? - Answer- When comparing mutations
in subclones that have originated from different clones in a tumour population
Categories of genes that are most often mutated in proliferating cancer cells
Parallel evolution - Answer- Occurs when two unrelated species that share a common
ancestor evolve on a similar path to produce similar phenotypic traits throughout the
entirety of their evolution
How does parallel evolution relate to cancer? - Answer- When common mechanisms for
growth and proliferation are seen across tumour populations
AND ANSWERS ALL CORRECT
What happens to cells in the second phase of metastasis? - Answer- Acquire motile
phenotype through increased HGF-MET signaling
Invade surrounding stroma
Migrate towards blood and lymphatic vessels
What facilitates increase motility and invasion? - Answer- Scatter factors
What are scatter factors? - Answer- Involved in pathways that enable cells to detach
from one another and invade the ECMs
What is a key scatter factor? - Answer- Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)
Biggest achievements from cancer research since war was declared on cancer -
Answer- First cancer vaccine (Gardasil)
Immunotherapy
Screening - evidence for origins of cancer in populations
Two important developments in cancer research over the last 40 years - Answer-
Mapping of the human genome
Knowledge about lifestyle factors
What is wrong with cancer research being misrepresented in the media? - Answer-
Breakthroughs are often reported using incomplete information
Drugs need to be deemed safe before they can be used for the public
Evolutionary biology of cancer - Answer- Similarities between Darwinian evolution and
cancer development
Focus on the mechanisms driving cancer development
Principles of Darwinian evolution - Answer- Evolution by natural selection
All living things are descendants of a common ancestor with each new species more
adapted to their native environment
Cancer - Answer- Collection of related diseases where some of the body's cells begin to
divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues
,Origin of Carcinoma - Answer- Greek for crab - because of spreading projections from
tumour
Origin of Oncos - Answer- Greek for swelling, used to describe cancer specialists
Old theory of cancer - Answer- Cancer was an imbalance of the four humours -
specifically an excess of black bile and imbalance of lymph
Caused by chronic irritation, trauma or parasites
Later: take biology and chemistry into account, genes specifically
Old Treatments - Answer- Surgery has always been an option - pain and suffering with
high chance of cancer recurrence
New Treatments - Answer- Imaging technologies with pharmacological treatment - more
successful surgery
Important considerations missing during the War on Cancer - Answer- Biological
understanding of cancer
Cancer is a complex set of diseases from fundamental parts of our biology
Impact of cancer on health - Answer- Serious problem in Canada - 1/2 of all people
Serious impact on DALY because of premature deaths
Impact of cancer on research - Answer- Nixon declared war - more funding of cancer
research
What is natural selection based off of? - Answer- That individuals with a favourable set
of traits for their environment are more likely to survive and produce viable offspring
than individuals with less favourable traits
How does natural selection work? - Answer- Random genetic mutations
Beneficial mutations are passed on to offspring and detrimental are lost because those
organisms are less likely to survive
What organism would be more fit/have greater fitness? - Answer- One that is better
adapted to the environment
What are three requirements for natural selection? - Answer- Variation in the population
Variation must be heritable
Variation must influence survival or fitness of members of the population
How does natural selection work at a cellular level? - Answer- Observed more rapidly -
cells reproduce at a faster rate which gives more opportunity for selection of favourable
traits
, Reproductive/survival advantage via random genetic mutations
Advantage results in proliferation of that population of cells
Clone - Answer- Group of cells that are derived from the same parent cell
Share the same ancestry and same genetics
Sub-clone - Answer- Progeny of a mutant cell arising from a clone
What is the outcome of natural selection at the cellular level? - Answer- Decreased
fitness of the organism as a whole
Selective pressures - Answer- Any environmental factors or conditions that diminish the
reproductive success of certain variants of a population
Contributes to natural selection
What are examples of selective pressures at a cellular level? - Answer-
Microenvironmental factors
Presence of drugs
How many directions can evolution take? - Answer- 3: divergent, convergent, parallel
evolution
Divergent evolution - Answer- Occurs when populations of a single species accumulate
enough phenotypic differences to diversify and become separate species
How does divergent evolution relate to cancer? - Answer- Cancer cells are constantly
dividing and growing which results in subclones with different mutations
Cells are variants of each other and confer heterogeneity to a tumour
Convergent evolution - Answer- Occurs when two unrelated species that do not share a
common ancestor develop analogous structures due to similar environmental selective
pressures
How does convergent evolution relate to cancer? - Answer- When comparing mutations
in subclones that have originated from different clones in a tumour population
Categories of genes that are most often mutated in proliferating cancer cells
Parallel evolution - Answer- Occurs when two unrelated species that share a common
ancestor evolve on a similar path to produce similar phenotypic traits throughout the
entirety of their evolution
How does parallel evolution relate to cancer? - Answer- When common mechanisms for
growth and proliferation are seen across tumour populations
