Genetics and Cancer — General Pathology

General Pathology · Basic Sciences

How it begins

Neoplasia (from the Greek νέος πλάσμα, "new formation") is an abnormal mass of tissue whose growth exceeds and is not coordinated with that of normal tissues, and which persists in the same excessive way after the cessation of the stimulus that caused it. This autonomy of growth, coined by Willis (1952), remains the most precise definition: cancer grows by its own rules, ignoring the signals of…

What it covers

1. Genetics and Cancer
2. Neoplasia — Concept and Classification
3. · Nomenclature of Tumors
4. · Different Characteristics: Benign vs. Malignant
5. · Differentiation and Anaplasia
6. The Hallmarks of Cancer
7. · Essential and Facilitating Hallmarks (Hanahan & Weinberg 2022)
8. Proto-oncogenes and Oncogenes
9. · Functional Categories of Oncogenes
10. Tumor Suppressor Genes
11. · Main Tumor Suppressor Genes
12. DNA Repair Genes
13. · Repair Systems and Cancer
14. · BRCA1/2 and PARP Inhibitors — Synthetic Lethality
15. · Lynch Syndrome — The Most Common Inherited MMR Deficiency
16. Cell Cycle and Cancer
17. · The Machinery of the Cellular Cycle
18. · Cell Cycle Alterations in Cancer
19. Apoptosis and Evasion in Cancer
20. · Apoptosis Avoidance Mechanisms in Cancer
21. Telomeres, Senescence and Immortalization
22. Cancer Epigenetics
23. · Epigenetic Mechanisms in Cancer
24. Stages of Carcinogenesis
25. · The Classic Three Stage Model
26. · The Vogelstein Sequence — Colorectal Adenoma-Carcinoma
27. Carcinogenic Agents
28. · Chemical Carcinogens
29. · Radiation and Carcinogenesis
30. · Viral Oncogenesis
31. Classification of Tumors
32. · Staging Systems
33. · Molecular Classification of Common Tumors
34. Invasion and Metastasis
35. · The Metastatic Cascade
36. · Organic Specificity of Metastasis — "Seed and Soil"
37. Tumor Microenvironment
38. · Components of the Tumor Microenvironment
39. Tumor Angiogenesis
40. · Antiangiogenics in Clinical Presentation
41. Tumor Metabolism — Warburg Effect
42. · The Warburg Effect and its Biological Justification
43. · Glutaminolysis and Tumor Lipid Synthesis
44. Hereditary Cancer Syndromes
45. Molecular Diagnosis of Cancer
46. · Molecular Biomarkers in Oncology
47. · Molecular Classification of Tumors — WHO 2021/2022
48. Directed Therapies and Immunotherapy
49. · Directed Therapies — By Class
50. · Mechanisms of Resistance to Targeted Therapies
51. Integration and Final Perspective
52. · The Evil Sequence — Integration of Concepts
53. · Perspective of Precision Oncology
54. · Integrating Summary
55. · Bibliographical References