Cancer Informative Speech

It takes a complicated process for cancer to occur, but thanks to your Advanced Biology class, we are here to inform you about the possible pathways in which cancer can occur. Everyday your cells grow, die and multiply without you even noticing. Cells die all the time and the body must replace these dead cells. In the cell cycle, the cells go through a growth and division process. In order for a cell to go through cell division, it must go through the process, interphase. Interphase includes; G1, S, G2, and M phase. During G1, the cell grows and performs its specific function inside the body. In S, or synthesis phase, the DNA inside the cell nucleus is replicated preparing the cell for cell division. The cell then enters G2, a second growth phase, to continue to grow and prepare for cell division. The final phase of interphase is M or mitosis is where cytokinesis

Mutations are alterations in a cell’s DNA sequence, which is essential when cells divide to create healthy cells. Mutated DNA create cancerous proteins that turn cells cancerous. DNA is the blueprints in your body needed to create the right proteins in order for your body to function correctly. The two major categories of genes in regulating the cell cycle, are proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Proto-oncogenes regulate cell growth, and when mutated, they turn into oncogenes. There are various pathways in controlling the cell cycle through the mutation of a proto-oncogene, such as the production of cancerous RAS, E2F and cyclin proteins. Tumor suppressor genes fix faults in DNA, slow down or stop the cell cycle, or enter the apoptosis phase which tells the cell to die. Tumor suppressor genes essentially act as brakes for the cell by telling the cell to stop dividing or stop growing. One mutation does not cause cancer, but the build up of multiple mutations can cause