Cancer's Fatal Code: The Science of Metastasis and Genetic Mutations

The video partnered with Brilliant, an interactive online learning platform.

The most common question is about what the bodies in the lab died from.

Most bodies die from various conditions, with many dying from cancer.

Colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer were mentioned as causes of death.

The commonality is that cancers often spread to vital organs, leading to death.

Cancer starts when abnormal cells grow out of control due to mutations in the DNA.

Proto-oncogenes are genes that code for normal cell growth, but can become oncogenes and cause cancer when mutated.

Anti-oncogenes, or tumor suppressor genes, are protective genes that suppress activation of cancer-causing oncogenes.

Most mutated cells die off due to having less survival capabilities, built-in cellular controls, or immune system responses.

The immune system uses white blood cells to identify and destroy mutated cells that display abnormal proteins.

People on immunosuppressants have a weakened immune response, increasing the likelihood of cancer development.

Factors include ionizing radiation, carcinogens, repeated physical irritants, and viral infections.

Genetics can increase cancer risk as predisposed families may already have cancerous genes, requiring fewer mutations to develop cancer.

Benign tumors are usually encapsulated and less likely to spread, while malignant tumors are not encapsulated and can spread to other parts of the body.

Metastasis is the process of cancer cells spreading to different parts of the body and setting up new tumor sites.

Cancer cells release angiogenic factors to promote the growth of new blood vessels that supply nutrients to them.

They died because the cancer spread to more vital organs: the colorectal cancer spread to the liver, breast cancer to the brain, and lung cancer to multiple sites.

Chemotherapy drugs target fast-dividing, metabolically active cells, which often include cancer cells, leading to their death.

Common side effects include damage to other healthy fast-dividing cells, such as skin, hair, and digestive tract cells.

Cancer treatments are challenging to design because cancer cells share many similarities with healthy cells, making it difficult to target them without harming normal cells.

The video partnered with Brilliant, an interactive online learning platform.

The most common question is about what the bodies in the lab died from.