Download Cancer

Is Cancer Really that Dangerous?
Cause of Death
Lifetime odds of dying
Car Crash
1 in 242
Drowning
1 in 1,028
Plane Crash
1 in 4,608
Lightning
1 in 71,501
Dog Bite
1 in 137,694
Venomous spider
1 in 716,010
Cancer
1 in 5
Cells in our Body Regulate
Themselves
Oncogenes – regulate cells to grow
Tumor Suppressor Genes – regulate cells to stop growing
Cell suicide! 
Cells in our body regulate
themselves
Cancer cells are just our “normal” cells that
become mutated and don’t stop growing!
- Thankfully, it takes more than one
mutation!
Cells in our Body Regulate
Themselves

Tumors may contain 100 Billion cells!


Crayola crayons stacked end to end to the moon
and back 12 times!
N.Y. to L.A. 1900 times, around Equator 240 times!
Cells in our Body Regulate
Themselves
Basically, Any Tissue in the Body
Can Become Cancerous
Cancer is expensive!!
-$107 Billion / year
- Breast, lung, and
prostate account for
over half by themselves!
Leukemia Overview

Cancer of the blood and bone marrow

Characterized by the uncontrolled accumulation of nonfunctional blood cells

Leukemia is one cancer that doesn’t form tumors…the
problem is restricted to abnormal blood cells in the
circulatory system
Several Kinds of Leukemia

Classified into 2 forms:

Acute: Rapid growth of immature blood cells. Extremely
dangerous form, death within weeks or months.

Chronic: Mature, but still abnormal blood cells build up.
Not as severe, not always treated.
Several Kinds of Leukemia
Leukemia has 4 different types, depending
on the type of abnormal blood cell present

One kind, ALL, is most often found in children
<20 years old

The other three kinds are most commonly
found in adults
Major Symptoms

Decreased white blood cells


Decreased platelets (blood clotting)


Results in greater risk of infection, similar to HIV
Results in easier bruising and bleeding
Anemia, deficiency of red blood cells

Occurs in almost all Leukemia patients
Treatment

Leukemia is a hard disease
to treat…



Chemotherapy may be used
on some forms, but not
others (age, etc. of patient
important)
Drugs such as imatinib, or
EPO
Bone Marrow Transplants are
an option, but risky
Very Common?
Leukemia is the second leading cause of
death in children <20, behind accidents
 1-4 year olds are 10x more likely to
develop Leukemia than 20-24 year olds


Survival rate for 1-4 year old with ALL is
88.4%!
 In
1960, it was ~14%!
The End!!!