Biology of Cancer

Cancer is a genetic disorder in which the information in cellular DNA is distorted, resulting in aberrant gene expression patterns. As a result, normal genes that control normal cellular processes like growth, survival, and invasion/motility are amplified, whereas genes that inhibit these effects are suppressed. Although non-mutational (epigenetic) alterations produced by mechanisms such as DNA methylation are becoming recognized as crucial to the process, the accumulation of mutations is the major mechanism of alteration. The so-called hallmarks and enabling characteristics of cancer are basic alterations in biological processes within cancer cells caused by abnormal gene expression. Eight distinct hallmarks and two additional so-called enabling traits can be used to understand cancer's biological behavior. In cancer medicine, a better understanding of the biological basis of these processes has transformed diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

• Oncogenes
• Tumor Suppressor Genes
• Apoptotic pathways
• Cellular immortalization
• Mutagens
• Invasion and metastasis
• Immune checkpoints