Looking At Onacology as a Career

Futrue Onacologist · New User Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 2

Well Im only 16 and have a long time to go..but I'm looking to be an onacologist one day..and my grandfather has had cancer and has beaten the cancer and is now living healthy and has stopped smoking and drinking..and i was wondering if any one can give me some hints or tips on anything about cancer or anything just basically the run down... Thanks

Brightlight · New User Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

I'm new to the board and I'm not quite sure what you do or don't know about cancer... but I can give you somewhat of a rundown (if you have anyother questions feel free to ask) I'm not a doctor, oncologist (so please feel free to correct me if I am wrong) or cancer patient (although I have a family background of cancer that goes on for miles) but I have taken some classes in the biology/oncology field in university. The basics:

Cancer is the general name for more than 100 diseases in which abnormal cells grow out of control (a malignant tumor).

Malignant (cancerous) cells are different from normal cells because:
-they're "immortal" (or at least they can divide more times than normal cells)
-they grow faster than cells of the same tissue of origin
-they don't interact normally from cell-to-cell (this is why they can invade other tissues, spread, and grow in a tissue that isn't its origin)

Cancer isn't an inherit disease (you don't get it from your parents), but mutated genes that can predispose to cancer (like mutated oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes) can be inherited. So you get the genes that can lead to cancer but won't for sure because cancer has several steps.

The Steps that lead to cancer are:
1)Irreversible initiation phase: unrepairable alteration of DNA by an nitiator, such as a mutagenic chemical or ionizing radiation
2)Reversible promotion phase: repeated or extended exposure to a substance that promotes growth may lead to excess cell proliferation, which may revert if the promoter is inactivated or removed
3)Irreversible progression phase: further genetic changes occur in cells already mutated, leading to increased genetic instability and accumulation of errors

Cancers are normally classified according to their tissue of origin.
Some Examples:
Carcinomas originate from epithelial cells (like skin)
Sarcomas originate in connective tissues, (like fat, bone or muscle)
Lymphomas originate in mutated lymphocytes (Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are the 2 main categories of lymphomas)
Leukemias arise from the vascular (blood-forming) tissues (bone marrow and lymph nodes), they typically over-produce white blood cells

Although there is alot of information on the web, I recommend getting a book on Cancer Biology (beware however that some books are extremely technical, as is one of the books I have, Radiobiology for the Radiologist by Hall, it's definitly not an easy read haha)

Well let me know what you think
Megan

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