Field cancerization

carolenk
carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
in Breast Cancer #1
The following might be a bit too technical; however, it supports the benefits of making lifestyle changes after a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Surgery can completely remove the primary tumor. When no changes are made in the environment that grew cancer in the first place, then another cancer can sprout up like a weed. Even though you cannot change your genetics, you CAN change your epigenetics.

"Pre-neoplastic" means pre-cancerous.

Cancer Cell Int. 2007 Mar 15;7:2.

Clinical implications and utility of field cancerization.
Dakubo GD, Jakupciak JP, Birch-Machin MA, Parr RL.

Genesis Genomics Inc, 310-1294 Balmoral Street, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5Z5, Canada. gabriel.dakubo@genesisgenomics.com

Abstract

Cancer begins with multiple cumulative epigenetic and genetic alterations that sequencially transform a cell, or a group of cells in a particular organ. The early genetic events might lead to clonal expansion of pre-neoplastic daughter cells in a particular tumor field.

Subsequent genomic changes in some of these cells drive them towards the malignant phenotype. These transformed cells are diagnosed histopathologically as cancers owing to changes in cell morphology.

Conceivably, a population of [pre-neoplastic] daughter cells with early genetic changes (without histopathology) remain in the organ, demonstrating the concept of field cancerization.

With present technological advancement, including laser capture microdisection and high-throughput genomic technologies, carefully designed studies using appropriate control tissue will enable identification of important molecular signatures in these genetically transformed but histologically normal cells. Such tumor-specific biomarkers should have excellent clinical utility.

This review examines the concept of field cancerization in several cancers and its possible utility in four areas of oncology; risk assessment, early cancer detection, monitoring of tumor progression and definition of tumor margins.

Comments

  • Hippiechick58
    Hippiechick58 Member Posts: 320
    #2
    huh?
    Huh?
  • laughs_a_lot
    laughs_a_lot Member Posts: 1,368 Member
    #3
    My take on this
    In college I learned that we all have genes for everything. Alzhiemer's, cancer, and a whole host of other diseases. It is just that the genes need to be turned on in a person before they get the disease. My genes may have not have been heavily loaded for breast cancer in the beginning. However, I may have taken the fewer cancer genes I did have and loaded them up for cancer. One of the things that can lead to cancer is stress. (And there are so many other things that lead to cancer). Stress shortens a thing called a tellomere on your genes. I worked two jobs and got a college education in the last 20 years. So I may have overloaded my genes by being to ambitious and having little time for play.

    Now a bunch of my cells are loaded with whatever the stress adds to the cancer equation. It is as if these cells are like cancer want to bes (called daughter cells). If I change my ways. (And beleive me I have). I can keep those nearly ready cancer want to be cells from tipping over the edge and turning into actual cancer cells. I cannot change how many cancer genes I have, but I can change the fact that I feed the cancer want to be cells with being a workaholic. So in effect I might be able to ward off a second case of cancer if I change my habits.


    Now mind you that might not be the exact explaination of what those $50 words were, but it is a pretty close approxomation. Needless to say once you get cancer you put a lot of thought into what you might want to change about your life.

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