MEDICINE

Are Cancer Cells SMARTER than Healthy Body Cells? 🤓

Cancer is a common disease in which an organism’s body cells reproduce uncontrollably and spread to different parts of the body. This can happen to any organ or tissue in the body and may be spontaneous or initiated by viral infection, radiation, or carcinogenic exposure, to name a few. Cancer cells are not foreign: they are our own body cells that acquire advantageous mutations (changes in their DNA) that accelerate the cell cycle. The adaptive mutations are famously outlined by Hanahan and Weinberg’s Hallmarks of Cancer.

Key changes to the reproductive cycle include generational immortality (healthy cells are programmed to die as they age through apoptosis, while cancer cells can bypass this) and evasion of cell cycle checkpoints (normally, stages of the cell cycle go through a form of quality-check to ensure there are no catastrophic mutations or deformed cells — all of which can be essentially ignored by cancer cells). Overall, this means that cancer cells are adapted to reproduce extremely rapidly in a selfish manner. That is, the tumours that they make up can grow and grow and grow — whether the organism as a whole can support it or not…

💡 Things to consider

• Why is curing cancer so difficult?: In the media, curing cancer is often suggested as one of medicine’s most challenging tasks. To start, cancer is extremely diverse and can come in many forms, affecting many different body parts, with a range of pathophysiology and symptoms. However, one of the main difficulties is the fact that the cancer cells are still our body cells, making it difficult to distinguish them and fight them pharmaceutically. For example, curing a bacterial infection with antibiotics is relatively straightforward: we can use drugs that target these foreign organisms and kill them without harming our own body. But for cancer, we don’t have the same luxury. Killing cancer cells often comes at the expense of our healthy tissue, leading to common side effects such as hair falling out (hair growth involves rapidly producing cells, so its production is therefore often caught in the crossfire of cancer treatment).

• How do current treatments for cancer work?: Having just explored how difficult treating cancer is, it opens the door to future drug development to take a new approach—and there is a plethora under review. The mutations that allow cancer cells to reproduce in such a rapid and uncontrolled manner can be targeted by treatment methods. For example, if cell-cycle checkpoints are being evaded by cancer cells, irradiation treatment can be used to introduce mutations into cells to paradoxically treat cancer. This way, our healthy body cells that still undergo these checkpoints can detect and repair the damage and continue the cycle, while those cancer cells that are not surveyed by this “quality-check” go on to undergo mitotic catastrophe and die. This is just one example of a huge range of treatment options that each build on the mutations that dictate cancer hallmarks.

• What’s the difference between a malignant and benign tumour?: A tumour is a swelling caused by abnormal tissue growth (different from the swelling you get in inflammation). However, this can be either “benign” or “malignant.” A benign tumour stays in its primary location and does not invade other sites. It is therefore relatively safe and able to be surgically removed, if necessary. However, malignant, or cancerous, tumours can spread (or metastasise) to other sites in the body via the bloodstream or lymphatic system. This commonly includes the liver, brain, lungs, or bone, where they cause catastrophic damage and often require more intense treatment, such as radiotherapy, to control their spread.

🔎 Find out more

• Hallmarks of Cancer: Hanahan and Weinburg - Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation

• Mutation-based treatment: Waarts et al. – Targeting Mutations in Cancer 

🍒 The cherry on top

• 📈 What is GDP, really?: We hear about GDP all the time, but do we really understand what it measures (and what it leaves out)? This short video from Economics Explained unpacks GDP’s history, quirks, and criticisms.Great for anyone interested in Economics or Politics!

• 📜 The Voynich Mystery: This SciShow episode dives deep into the famously undeciphered Voynich Manuscript, a bizarre 15th-century book filled with alien-looking text, surreal illustrations, and cryptic diagrams.Using concepts from linguistics, information theory, and modern data science, researchers now suggest the whole thing might be an elaborate medieval hoax. A mind-bending case study for anyone interested in Linguistics or History.

• 🐘 Do Elephants Mourn?: This reflection from the Londolozi Blog explores powerful field observations of elephants interacting with the bones of their dead: sniffing, moving, and gathering around them, as if paying respect. Blending personal narrative with scientific insight, the article delves into the emotional and cultural complexity of elephant behaviour. A compelling read for anyone interested in Biology.

👀 Keep your eyes peeled for…

• 24th-26th June:

  • University of Law Gypsy Rose Case Study Session (different locations)

• Wednesday 25th June:

  • University of London Physics and Maths Taster Session

  • Pembroke College Cambridge Chemistry Subject Taster Webinar

  • Trinity Hall Cambridge Webinar for Teachers supporting Applicants

• Monday 30th June:

  • UEA Maths Taster Webinar

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