angiogenesis
extension of blood vessels, such as toward a tumor
cancer stem cells
stem cells that divide and yield cancer cells and abnormal specialized cells
carcinogens
A substance that causes cancer
chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy
A cancer treatment that combines DNA instructions for a T cell receptor with those for an antibody creating a cell surface molecule that guides T cells to cancer cells
dedifferentiated
A cell less specialized than the cell descended from
driver mutation
A mutation that provides the selective growth advantage of a cancer cell
fusion protection
A protein that forms from translation of transcripts from two genes
gene expression profiling
use of DNA micro, erase to detect the types and amounts of CDNA’s reverse transcribed from the mRNAs in a particular cell source
immune checkpoint inhibitors
drugs that bind receptors in ways that block the bonding of cancer cells to T cells that suppress them unleashing the T cells to attack the cancer cells
kinase inhibitors
drugs that block kinases interfering with a cell cycle and cancer cells
metastasis
spread of cancer from its sight of origin to other parts of the body
oncogene
A gene that normally controls the cell cycle, but causes cancer when over expressed
passenger mutation
A mutation in a cancer cell that does not provide a selective growth advantage. It doesn’t cause cancer, but accompanies it.
proto-oncogene
A gene that normally triggers cell division, but when over expressed causes cancer
tumor suppressor gene
A recessive gene whose normal function is to limit the number of divisions, a cell undergoes
