1st Edition

A Guide to Cancer Origins and Revelations

By Melford John Copyright 2018
    236 Pages 14 Color & 35 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    236 Pages 14 Color & 35 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    236 Pages 14 Color & 35 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    A Guide to Cancer: Origins and Revelations unfolds the complex and fascinating topic of cancer in two ways: firstly, no specialist knowledge is assumed on the part of the reader, and secondly, despite the serious nature of the topics, the book aims to stimulate interest, provoke thought, and paradoxically entertain. It takes an array of complex topics and breaks them down in clear, concise terms, so that anyone with a basic knowledge of science can understand. The book is aimed at the general public as well as students of biological subjects, first and second year university students, and researchers in the nascent field of cancer genomics.

    Origins

    Charles Darwin

    Anaximander

    Titus Lucretius Carus

    Gregor Mendel

    About genes

    Decoding life

    Back to Mendel’s work

    About chromosomes

    Mutations

    Alleles

    DNA repair

    What causes cancer?

    Inheriting cancer

    Retinoblastomas

    Hereditary cancer

    Familial cancers

    Sporadic cancers

    Why Cancer?

    Origins

    The pragmatic gene

    Is evolution for real?

    The driving force of cancer

    Mutations change proteins

    Architects of cancer

    Conservation of function

    Conservation of functional components

    Protein families

    Proteins that are enzymes

    Replacement mutations

    Frameshift mutations

    What drives cancer?

    Francis Crick, James Watson, and Rosalind Franklin

    War on Cancer

    Fighting over differences

    Out of Africa

    Mortality

    Vaccinations

    Cancer

    War, what is it good for?

    The Human Genome

    The Road less travelled

    Tumor Growth

    The hallmarks of cancer

    Differentiated cells

    Stem cells

    Malignancy

    One giant leap

    Tumor growth models

    Branching of tumor colonies

    Stem Cell resistance to radiotherapy

    Tumor Suppression

    The immune burden

    Is evolution bothered?

    Metastasis

    The immune response

    The inflammatory response

    The innate immune system

    Macrophages

    Neutrophils

    Natural killer cells

    Mast cells

    The complement system

    Pathogen recognition

    Targeting cancer cells

    Major histocompatibility complex proteins

    Innate immunosurveillance

    Adaptive Tumor Suppression

    The immune response

    Antigens

    Antibodies

    The problem with epitopes

    Strangers in the night

    Dendritic cells

    B-cells

    Cytotoxic T-cells

    Helper T-cells

    Acquired immune deficiency s yndrome and cancer

    Surgery

    Surgery in cancer treatment

    Surgical Methods

    Morcellators

    The Cancer Landscape

    Control of gene expression

    Promoters and enhancers

    Cancer by cell type

    Carcinomas

    World Health Organization (WHO) classification of cancer

    Breast cancer

    Hematopoietic cancers

    Chromosome defects and acute myelogenous leukemia

    Chronic myeloid leukemia

    Burkitt’s lymphoma

    Other cancers

    Brain tumors

    Childhood cancers

    The Immortal Cell

    The Primordial urge

    Henrietta lacks’ cells

    The Senescent cell

    Cell division

    Growth factors

    Cell signaling

    The cell cycle

    Inside hayflick’s limit

    Cell death

    Radiotherapy

    Staging of cancers

    Radiation treatment

    Prostate cancer

    Lung cancer

    Breast cancer

    Driver Mutations

    Oncogenes

    An updated definition of an oncogene

    Driver pathways

    Growth factors

    Pathways that control cell division

    The Ras signaling pathway

    The Ras onocogene

    tumor suppressor genes

    An updated definition of a TSG

    The role of p53

    Li-fraumeni syndrome

    Smoking and p53

    Chemotherapy

    Cancer chaos

    Cell replacement

    Chemotherapy

    How chemotherapeutic drugs work

    Antioxidants

    Reactive oxygen species

    Ageing

    Antioxidants

    Antioxidants in supplements

    Antioxidants and heart disease

    Antioxidants and cancer

    Beta-carotene and lung cancer

    Vitamin E, selenium, and prostate cancer

    Avoiding antioxidants

    Why don’t antioxidants protect against cancer?

    Ultaviolet rays and reactive oxygen species

    DNA damage

    Xeroderma pigmentosum

    Pigmentary traits

    Skin cancer prevention

    Vitamin D

    About vitamin D

    Obesity

    Vitamin D deficiency

    Forms of vitamin D

    Potency of D2 and D3

    Vitamin D and lifestyle

    Synthesis of vitamin D

    Vitamin D and cancer risk

    How does vitamin D offer protection?

    Cell adhesion, invasion, and metastases

    Cell division and differentiation

    Apoptosis

    Recommended doses of vitamin D

    Vitamin D and sunscreens

    Viruses

    Communicable diseases

    Human immunodeficiency virus

    How pathogens drive cancer

    Helicobacter pylori

    Hepatitis B

    Hepatitis C

    Human papillomavirus

    Metastasis

    Metastatic beginnings

    Metastatic sites

    Cell adhesion

    The Metastatic cascade

    Invasion

    Detachment

    Anoikis

    Intravasation

    Extravasation

    Treatment

    Are macrophages double agents?

    Are neutrophils double agents?

    Revelations

    Complexity of cancer phenotype

    Diagnosing cancer

    Cancer types may also be identified by other techniques

    Screening

    Lifestyle changes

    Treatment

    Adapting to drug treatment

    Targeted therapy

    Anti-angiogenic drugs

    Immunotherapy

    Cytokine treatment

    Cancer vaccines

    Tumor cell vaccines

    Targeting breast cancer

    Adoptive cell transfer

    Therapeutic antibodies

    Checkpoint inhibitors

    Summary

    Biography

    Melford John completed a first degree in Biochemistry at The University of London, followed by a PhD in Biochemistry, also at The University of London. He has been a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies for 6 years, where he teaches biochemistry to medical students. His research is devoted to cancer genomics. Before coming to the University of the West Indies he spent 9 years at The European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, UK as a database administrator in the Protein Data Bank in Europe group (PDBe).