I have to write a paper on the spread of cancer HELP!

[mellowmorgan]

So for my Bio Lab, I have to write an essay on the spread of cancer throughout the body. Like how and why the cells separate from primary tumour and spread to other parts of the body. I read some scholarly journals but, to be honest, they were totally beyond my knowledge of cancer. They were so in depth, and I'm trying to just weed out the core concepts, since this is an intro class. I came up with some key words, like metastasis and clonal dominance theory, but I can't find anything providing a simple explanation of what clonal dominance is or a list of its major tenets. Is the clonal dominance theory not even a theory yet, and just a hypothesis? Because somewhere I read that it was only a hypothesis...

 

Also, does anyone know specifically why cancer cells might spread away from their primary site?

 

Thanks!

[dmaiski]

cancer spreads from the main tumour due to failure of the cell adhesion proteins that usually keep tissues from falling apart.

 

also the best tip i can give you: start from wikipedia and work your way out

you cant reference it, but everyone uses wikipedia for remembering the basic concepts

 

 

[Sabria Ortiz]

I am not so sure if this link would help you in anyway but I'm hoping it will since this information might be needed in your research http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/67/24/11471.full

[Curious]

How Does Cancer Spread Throughout the Body?

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4568570_cancer-spread-throughout-body.html

 

 

Hope It will help you.