Oncogenes: The Agents of Cancer

Fig 3.1

In 2017, cancer caused approximately 600,000 deaths in the US alone, which roughly accounted for 21.3% of the total deaths that occurred that year.

We all know cancer is a chronic disease and has severe consequences, but most of us do not know what it is and what causes it.

Cancer is a disease in which somatic cells divide in an uncontrolled fashion in a localized area leading to the formation of a tumour which can spread throughout our body.

Now, what causes it? The answer is oncogenes which are capable of transforming a normal cell into a tumour cell. These oncogenes are a product of modifications caused to proto-oncogenes as a result of environmental, genetic or even lifestyle factors.

But why do we have proto-oncogenes in the first place? They are necessary for regulating the cell division by coding for different proteins.

Now, these oncogenes code for oncoproteins. These proteins can potentially either induce cell growth and proliferation or inhibit cell death which results in the formation of an undifferentiated mass of cells called a malignant tumour.

Fig 3.2

For example, HER2 is a proto-oncogene which regulates growth, repair and division of cells in the breast. There are usually two copies of this gene but in some breast cancer, this gene gets amplified to have more than two copies. This causes HER2 protein to be produced in excess which results in breast cells to grow, divide and proliferate much more quickly than healthy breast cells.

References

1)GEMS-GMU Future Scientists of UAE program.

2) https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php.

3) https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/her2

3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mo80kTZgW4