Cancer
Malcolm R Alison, Imperial College School of Medicine, London, UK
Published online: April 2001
DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0001471
Abstract
Cancer is a potentially fatal disease caused mainly by
environmental factors that mutate genes encoding critical cell‐regulatory
proteins. The resultant aberrant cell behaviour leads to expansive masses of
abnormal cells that destroy surrounding normal tissue and can spread to vital
organs resulting in disseminated disease, commonly a harbinger of imminent
patient death.
Keywords: carcinoma; sarcoma; leukaemia; lymphoma; oncogenes; tumour suppressor genes; telomerase; apoptosis; metastasis
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