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Chapter
Cancer Genetics
This chapter summarizes genetic predisposition to cancer, the various kinds of genetic changes in cancer cells, and introduces some of the mechanisms causing them. Cancer cells typically contain multiple alter...
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Pediatric Cancers
While cancers in children and adolescents are overall rare, some cancer types occur predominantly in children and adolescents. Typical pediatric cancers share characteristics like few genetic alterations and d...
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Oncogenes
Oncogenes are one important type of cancer gene and act in a dominant mode. They were first discovered in cancer-causing viruses. Retroviral oncogenes in retroviruses are derived from their hosts but are inapp...
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Colorectal Cancer
Carcinomas of the colon and rectum (colorectal cancer, CRC) are among the most prevalent cancers worldwide. Colorectal cancers develop through a number of defined stages to systemic disease. Study of hereditar...
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Cancer Pathways
Proliferation, differentiation, and survival of normal cells are regulated by interlinked pathways that transmit and integrate signals from growth factors, hormones, cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. The...
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Lung Cancer
Cancers of the lung account for a large fraction of all cancer deaths worldwide. The vast majority are caused by carcinogens from cigarette smoke. The complex mechanism of carcinogenesis by cigarette smoke are...
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Cancer Epigenetics
Epigenetic mechanisms establish cell type-specific gene expression patterns that are stably transmitted across cell divisions. Epigenetic changes in tumor cells reflect and contribute to their altered differen...
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Liver Cancer
Liver cancer is a major lethal malignancy worldwide. This chapter describes the molecular pathogenesis of the main histological subtype, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Most HCC develop in the context of chron...
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Cancer Prevention
Cancer prevention can be categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary. Prevention may address entire populations or individuals and families at greater risk. Cancer prevention must be based on robust scienti...
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Breast Cancer
Breast cancers are a major cause of mortality in females, on a par with lung and colon cancers. One topic in this chapter are the causes of breast cancer, environmental risk factors as well as genetic predispo...
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Cancer Therapy
Current cancer therapy is based on surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, often administered in combination. Cytotoxic chemotherapy is increasingly supplemented or replaced by biologics, targe...
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Chapter
An Introduction to Human Cancers
This introductory chapter delineates first the scope of the cancer problem, providing an overview on the incidence and mortality caused by cancers worldwide. Cancers are caused by many types of exogenous carci...
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Leukemias and Lymphomas
Leukemias and lymphomas arise from cells of the hematopoietic lineage (hence, hematological cancers). Hematological cancers can be histologically classified by their similarity to erythroid, myeloid, or lympho...
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DNA Damage and DNA Repair
This chapter describes in more detail the various kinds of DNA damage that can cause mutations and chromosomal alterations as well as the corresponding repair systems, which normally remove the vast majority o...
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Cancers of the Skin
The skin is the most frequent site of cancers in humans. The most important carcinogen in the skin is UV radiation, which acts through several mechanisms, including DNA damage resulting in a distinctive mutati...
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Chapter
Tumor Suppressor Genes
Tumor suppressors are the second major type of cancer genes. In contrast to oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes have to undergo loss of function to promote tumor development. Hereditary cancers typically result ...
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Chapter
Bladder Cancer
Most cancers in the urinary bladder are urothelial carcinomas (UC). They are predominantly caused by chemical carcinogens, notably aromatic amines. Bladder cancer risk depends on exposure and polymorphisms in ...
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Cell Death and Replicative Senescence in Cancer
For continuous growth, cancer cells must overcome barriers posed by terminal differentiation, replicative senescence, and cell death by apoptosis. This chapter treats especially the mechanisms of replicative s...
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Renal Cell Carcinomas
This chapter highlights the molecular mechanisms in some of the many different tumor types that originate in the adult kidney. Renal cell carcinomas are classified by their histology and accordingly designated...
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Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is a highly prevalent cancer in older men. Its clinical course is extremely variable. Detection of prostate cancer has been improved by immunoassays for serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA). R...