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Cancer and obesity - Biochemistry
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Here are lecture notes for a biochemistry lecture on cancer and obesity
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BIOCHEMISTRY – LECTURE 9 PART 2cancer and obesity
There is much evidence to show that body composition can influence several
stages in the development of cancer. A report by the World Cancer Research
Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research 2018 estimated that 30-50% of
cancers are preventable by healthy lifestyles and avoiding exposure to
occupational carcinogens, environmental pollution and certain long-term
infections.
The top 4 cancers account for more than 50% of all new cancer cases. One in
three people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. The 20 most
common causes of cancer death in 2017:
The next graph clearly shows how cancers increase with increasing age. Cancers
mainly occur in older people with 75% diagnosed over the age of 60 years.
There were around 363,000 new cases of cancer in the UK every year, that’s 990
cases diagnosed every day. Incidence rates for all cancers combined are
projected to rise by 2% in the UK between 2014 and 2035, to 742 cases per
100,000 people by 2035.
So, what is cancer?
A disease of cells, it is characterised by an excess of cells beyond the
number needed for normal function of the body organ affected (WCRF and
AICR, 1997)
, A broad term to describe a group of more than 200 types of disease that
affects specific organs or tissues of the body (WCRF and AICR, 2007)
All cancers start with a single cell that has lost control of its growth and
regulation process (World Cancer Research Fund, 2007).
The body is constantly renewing cells (except in brain and nervous system).
There are strict controls regulating cell division to prevent uncontrolled growth. A
cancer mutation causes a loss of this control. For cancer to occur there needs to
be a number of mutations within the same cell. The more frequently mutations
occur the more likely this is to happen.
Cancer – diseases that result from the unchecked growth of malignant tumours.
Carcinogen – substances or agents that are capable of causing cancer.
Mutagen – an agent that causes genetic mutation.
Initiator – factors that cause mutations that give rise to cancer.
Promoter – factors that favour the development of cancer once is has started.
Tumour – a new growth of tissue forming an abnormal mass with no function,
also called a neoplasm.
Malignant tumour – tumours that multiply out of control, threaten health and
require treatment.
Benign tumour – tumours that stop growing without intervention or can be
removed surgically and pose no threat to health.
Adenomas – cancers that arise from glandular tissues.
Carcinomas – cancers that arise from epithelial tissues.
Gliomas – cancers that arise from glial cells of the central nervous system.
Leukaemias – cancers that arise from the white blood cells.
Lymphomas – cancers that arise from lymph tissue.
Melanomas – cancers that arise from pigmented skin cells.
Sarcomas – cancers that arise from muscle, bone, or connective tissues.
Cancer has three stages – initiation, promotion and progression. Diet may affect
the genes involved in any of the 3 stages, or in preventing or repairing the
alterations.
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