Chapter 1 Self-check questions

. Which of the following are NOT hallmarks of cancer?

Growth signal autonomy and angiogenesis.

Reprogamming energy metabolism and invasion and metastasis.

Evasion of growth inhibitory signals and avoiding immune destruction.

Induction of cell death and tumor-promoting inflammation.

. Which one of the following statements regarding the phenotype of transformed cells is false?

They adopt a round morphology.

They exhibit anchorage independence.

They cannot grow in low serum.

They grow as foci against a monolayer of normal cells.

. Which one of the following statements correctly describes why there has been an increase in the number of cases of cancer in recent years?

People are making fewer visits to their doctors.

People are living longer.

The genes for cancer confer an advantage of survival and are being selected for during the evolution of the species.

The growth in the population and migration has enabled cancer to spread.

. What phase of clinical trials of a new cancer drug examines a drug's effectiveness and compares its efficacy to conventional treatments?

Phase I.

Phase II.

Phase III.

After approval of the drug.

. Which one of the following statements describes the effect of most cytotoxic chemotherapies upon cancer cells?

Cessation of DNA replication.

Inhibition of translation and tumor suppressor production.

Induction of apoptosis by DNA damage.

Poisoning of the mitochondria to reduce cell metabolism.

. Which of the following statements regarding the "therapeutic index" is false?

It is the value of the difference between the minimum effective dose and the maximum tolerated dose.

The larger the value, the safer the drug.

The therapeutic index for most chemotherapies is small compared to aspirin.

It is the value of the difference between the maximum effective dose and the minimum tolerated dose.

. Which one of the following characteristics of cancer cells causes cancers to be lethal?

The ability of cancer cells to change shape.

The ability to grow in low serum.

The ability to inhibit angiogenesis.

The ability to metastasize from a primary site to secondary sites and to invade other organs.

. Which one of the following concepts correctly describes what Knudson's two-hit hypothesis explains?

Proto-oncogenes can be mutated to become oncogenes.

The development of cancer is clonal.

The mechanism behind hereditary conditions that predispose individuals to an increased risk of cancer.

Haploinsufficiency.

. Which one of the following statements is false?

Cancer is considered as a group of diseases.

There are approximately ten types of cancer.

Cancer is diagnosed by the presence of a malignant tumor.

A cancer is described according to its cell of origin.

. Which one of the following statements correctly describes an oncogene?

A gene that codes for a protein that helps inhibit tumor growth and formation.

A mutated gene whose protein product is produced in increased quantities or has increased activity and contributes to carcinogenesis.

A type of cancer therapy.

A mutated gene whose protein product is produced in deficient quantities and contributes to carcinogenesis.

. What is the relevance of the Human Genome Project to cancer biology?

We now understand that the genomic profile of an individual's tumor is not unique to that patient but shared among all those with that type of cancer.

It has used technologies that are so efficient it will be a long time before improvements are made.

It provided the basis for whole-genomic sequencing of individual tumors and genome-wide association studies.

The completion of the Human Genome Project has allowed us to know who will get cancer later in life.

. All of the following support the statement: "cancer is a systemic disease" EXCEPT:

Cancer cells use long-distance signalling to influence host tissues.

Cancer cells can influence its microenvironment, e.g. pH.

Cancer is initiated by systematic changes

Cancer depends on interactions with cells in its environment.

. What are cancer disparities?

Differences between tumor cells within a tumor

Differences in cancer statistics across population/ethnic groups

They do not exist and this is supported by genomic data.

The range of drugs available to treat a type of cancer.

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