cancer cell research paper

Cancerous cells are being found more and more frequently in men and women each year. There are two known causes to this phenomenon: the tumor suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes. They are mutations that occur in the main cells of the body that ultimately lead to the formation of cancer. A single gene mutation is all that is necessary to drive the cancer cells to grow and divide uncontrollably. As this occurs the body cells go into apoptosis; if the patient does not take the necessary steps for immediate treatment he/she will most likely die since cancer cells rapidly begin to encompass the whole body. Proto-oncogenes are a group of genes that regulate the function of normal cells in the body, but when mutated cause oncogenes to form; cancerous cells. Proto-oncogenes, when not mutated encode the proteins that are necessary for the function of cell division. They also aid the cells from differentiating and going into cell death. All these steps are necessary for proper human development, but can cause a problem when used in overload. As proto-oncogenes multiply in an excessive amount they form into cancerous cells (oncogenes) which cause rapid cell division, cell differentiation and cell death. The rapid growth of proto-oncogenes is not the only mechanism that causes oncogenes to become activated, they are also many others. Mutations are one of the many other factors that cause these cancerous cells to form. These may include insertions, deletions, or point mutations in the gene sequences of the proto-oncogenes. This begins to increase transcription and chromosomal copies in the body. Chromosomal translocation of the proto-oncogenes causes the genes to be relocated to a different chromosomal site, this results in higher expression. In many other cases chromosomal translocation can form a protein product with oncogenic activity, the only way that this can happen is when a second gene binds with the proto-oncogene and moves with it to a different chromosomal