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There are 3 main types of cancer genes that control cell growth and can cause cancer to develop. Oncogenes are mutated genes that cause cells to grow out of control and can lead to cancer. Proto-oncogenes are normal genes that control cell growth but if they become mutated they can turn into oncogenes.
All cancers are caused by a permanent change in, or damage to, one or more genes. Genes are present in every cell in your body and guide how each cell develops, behaves and functions. A change in a gene is called a gene mutation.
Aug 8, 2024 · Genetic changes can lead to cancer if they alter the way your cells grow and spread. Most cancer-causing DNA changes occur in genes, which are sections of DNA that carry the instructions to make proteins or specialized RNA such as microRNA. For example, some DNA changes raise the levels of proteins that tell cells to keep growing.
The main types of genes that play a role in cancer are oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes. Learn more here.
- DNA and Genes
- How Faulty Genes Lead to Cancer
- Genes That Encourage The Cell to Multiply
- Genes That Stop The Cell Multiplying
- Genes That Repair Other Damaged Genes
- Genes That Tell A Cell to Die
Inside almost every cell in your body is a structure called the nucleus. This is the control centre of the cell. Inside the nucleus are 23 pairs of chromosomes. These are long strings of DNA. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid (pronounced dee-oxy-rye-bow-nu-clay-ik acid). Each string of DNA looks like a twisted ladder. Scientists call this a doub...
Our genes pick up mistakes that happen when cells divide. These mistakes (or faults) are called mutations. Mutations can happen throughout our lives, during natural processes in our cells. Or they can happen because of other factors such as: 1. tobacco smoke 2. high energy (ionising) radiation, such as x-rays 3. ultraviolet radiation from the sun 4...
Oncogenes are genes that, under normal circumstances, tell cells to multiply and divide. In adults this doesn't happen very often. We can think of oncogenes as being a bit like the accelerator pedal in a car. When they become active they speed up a cell's growth rate. When one becomes damaged, it is like the accelerator pedal becoming stuck down. T...
It is usual for cells to repair faults in their genes. When the damage is very bad, tumour suppressor genes may stop the cell growing and dividing. Mutations in tumour suppressor genes mean that a cell no longer understands the instruction to stop growing. The cell can then start to multiply out of control. This can lead to cancer. The best known t...
The DNA in every cell in our body is constantly in danger of becoming damaged. But cells contain many different proteins whose job is to repair damaged DNA. Most DNA damage gets repaired straight away because of these proteins. But if the DNA damage occurs to a gene that makes a DNA repair protein, a cell has less ability to repair itself. So error...
Some genes tell a cell to self destruct if it has become too old or damaged. This is called apoptosis or programmed cell death. It is a very complex and important process. Cells usually die whenever something goes wrong, to prevent a cancer forming. There are many different genes and proteins involved in apoptosis. If these genes get damaged, a fau...
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Doctors are now using the human genome and better gene-based tests to study DNA and better understand cancer. Researchers study genes to help them learn more about which ones may be linked to cancer. They have mapped all of the genes that make up humans (called the human genome).
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Cancer begins when cells in the body become abnormal and start to grow out of control. This is caused by certain changes in a cell’s genes. What are genes? Genes are pieces of DNA inside each cell. They tell the cell how to make the proteins it needs to function.
