Discussion Ideas

Chapter 5


Cancer and Its Causes

Discuss with students the factors that cause cancer, including the mutagens in cigarette smoke, inadequate nutrition and fats in the diet, mutagenic chemicals, and ultraviolet radiation. Relate mutations in DNA to losing control over the cell cycle and having more rapid than normal rates of cell division, producing numerous immature cells.

End your discussion with ideas on how students could cut their chances of developing cancer, based especially on behavior modification.

How Cancer Chemotherapy Works

Discuss with your students how cancer chemotherapy works, and tie it in with the cell cycle and mitosis.

There are many different forms of chemotherapy, each tailored to work for specific types of cancer in the body. Chemotherapy operates by specifically killing cells when they are dividing. Since cancer cells divide much more rapidly than normal body cells, chemotherapy drugs should kill the cancer out before they kill too many of the body's normal cells. Cells of the body that are killed by chemotherapy are those that the body replaces frequently, such as the lining of the small intestine or the lining of the mouth and throat. Thus, chemotherapy patients often suffer intestinal disturbances and dry or sore mouths and throats among other side effects of the treatment.

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