Table of Contents
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
