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The tumor types are typical for each type of tumor suppressor gene mutation, with some mutations causing particular cancers, and other mutations causing others. The mode of inheritance of mutant tumor suppressors is that an affected member inherits a defective copy from one parent, and a normal copy from the other.
In modern English, tumor (non-US spelling: tumour) is used as a synonym for a neoplasm (a solid or fluid-filled cystic lesion that may or may not be formed by an abnormal growth of neoplastic cells) that appears enlarged in size. [12] [13] Some neoplasms do not form a tumor; these include leukemia and most forms of carcinoma in situ.
The classical view of cancer is a set of diseases driven by progressive genetic abnormalities that include mutations in tumor-suppressor genes and oncogenes, and in chromosomal abnormalities. A role for epigenetic alterations was identified in the early 21st century. [99]
A transmissible cancer is a cancer cell or cluster of cancer cells that can be transferred between individuals without the involvement of an infectious agent, such as an oncovirus. [1] [2] The evolution of transmissible cancer has occurred naturally in other animal species, but human cancer transmission is rare. [2]
A cancer syndrome or family cancer syndrome is a genetic disorder in which inherited genetic mutations in one or more genes predisposes the affected individuals to the development of cancers and may also cause the early onset of these cancers. Although cancer syndromes exhibit an increased risk of cancer, the risk varies.
One underlying commonality in cancers is genetic mutation, acquired either by inheritance, or, more commonly, by mutations in one's somatic DNA over time. The mutations considered important in cancers are those that alter protein coding genes (the exome). As Vogelstein et al. point out, a typical tumor contains two to eight exome "driver gene ...
A hamartoma is a mostly benign, [3] local malformation of cells that resembles a neoplasm of local tissue but is usually due to an overgrowth of multiple aberrant cells, with a basis in a systemic genetic condition, rather than a growth descended from a single mutated cell (monoclonality), as would typically define a benign neoplasm/tumor. [4]
Peto's paradox is the observation that, at the species level, the incidence of cancer does not appear to correlate with the number of cells in an organism. [1] For example, the incidence of cancer in humans is much higher than the incidence of cancer in whales, [2] despite whales having more cells than humans.