Potential Causes of Cancers and Steps for Prevention

Cancer is a diverse group of more than hundred diseases occurring in different parts of body and due to different reasons. Accordingly, their aetiology varies but one thing is common in all cancers and that is they start from a few abnormal cells that have lost the control on their growth.

Our body is made of trillions of cells which have been formed from a single cell called zygote. Usually the cells grow, divide, form the tissue to perform specific function and die in very controlled manner, and that is how a child grows up into an adult. In adults the cells divide only for maintenance and to replace the dead cells and for healing the injuries.

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The growth and division of the cells are regulated by the DNA, deoxynucleic acid, which makes our genes, situated in cell nucleus. If some undesired changes occur in the DNA, called mutation, which is not repairable by the cells, it may lead to uncontrolled division of cells forming a lump of unorganised tissue called cancer. In case of blood cancer, however, the cells do not form lump of tissues. Cancers of different tissues behave differently and respond to different medications.

After reading my last blog one of the reader suggested to cover the causes of cancers so that people can get aware and avoid the cancer by making certain life style changes.

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According to American Cancer Society, a number of factors may be responsible for cancer including familial inheritance of defective genes, use of tobacco which contain many compounds that can cause DNA damage, the diet, physical inactivity, hormonal unbalance, increased body weight, and alcohol abuse, all can make the body organs prone to develop certain cancers. Further, environmental factors such as excessive sun, ultra-violet, radiation and chemical and pollutants exposure can also lead to cancer development.

One cannot do much in case of inheritance of a defective gene, but if such genes run in the family, the person can go for screening of such genes early and try to avoid the occurrence of cancer by staying away from the stimulus that may activate those genes. Alternatively, the affected organs can be regularly screened for any benign growth, and if needed may be removed surgically. Recently, Hollywood actor Anjelina Jolie’s double mastectomy was widely covered by Global media, which has been helpful in increasing the awareness about familial cancers.

In the present day scenario, westernised life style has been blamed for developing many cancers. The energy rich diet, along with little or no physical activity, obesity and tobacco and alcohol abuse has been scientifically shown to cause cancers. These factors induce a condition in the body which affects the body cells and make them vulnerable for DNA damage. In many people these changes may result in cancer development. The affected person would not know immediately because the cancer grows slowly. By the time symptoms appear and it may be diagnosed cancer may be uncontrollable and untreatable resulting in fatality.

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One can avoid the life style-related cancers by consuming balanced diet, avoiding energy rich and overcooked or fried meal, stopping tobacco and alcohol abuse and by exercising regularly to stay fit and regulate the body weight.

The pollutants, pesticides and herbicides, fertilizers and other toxic chemical may also act as carcinogen. These days most of the food items are being grown using these chemicals, our cities are excessively polluted and our homes are full of toxic chemicals. These chemicals are scientifically proven to cause severe and irreversible DNA damage which can result into cancer development.

The organic farming using no fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides can be helpful in avoiding the dangers of these chemicals on our health. Governments are implicating policies to decrease the pollution in residential and work area including offices and parks in which citizens should actively and consciously make effort to minimise the pollution. These step may, slowly and certainly, become helpful in prevention of many deadly cancers in due course.

Dad's Liver Fibrosis May Protect Son’s Liver

The liver is a vital organ in our body which performs many important functions, but sometimes gets inflamed because of various reasons including virus infection, and alcohol and drug abuse. A chronic inflammation of the liver results in fibrosis wherein healthy liver cells are replaced by collagen loaded fibrotic cells which compromise the structure and function of the liver. This course of disease is known for many years now, and there is nothing new in this.

source: www.hivandhepatitis.com

What is new however is that scientists have now discovered that fibrosis in father’s liver somehow results in the protection from this disease in his sons. The chronic liver injury because of either viral infection or alcohol abuse induces an epigenetic change in the sperm’s DNA. When this changed DNA is transmitted to the next generation it would protect the male progeny from liver fibrosis.

Epigenetic changes are modifications in the DNA caused by non-genetic and mostly lifestyle related exposures in ones’ life time. Although these changes do not seems to last and have limited effects on long-term evolutionary changes, sometimes epigenetic changes in the germ cells such as sperm can be transmitted to the next generation. Epigenetic changes are now implicated in many present day diseases including cancer and diabetes.  

The scientists, Müjdat Zeybel and his colleagues, reported that a long history of liver damage in rodents was related with transfer of adaptive epigenetic changes that suppressed liver fibrosis in first and 2^nd generation male rats.

The scientists induced liver fibrosis in rats by two different methods using carbon tetra-chloride and bile duct ligation. They found that prolonged lung injury resulted in the changes in rat sperm DNA which were inherited by the progeny. The male rats born from those sperms when tested by giving similar insults showed increased protection from liver fibrosis.

The main reason for this protection is higher amounts of a factor that prevent liver fibrosis, called peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ) in scientific term, in the liver of male pups that inherited modified DNA. They also had lower amounts of fibrosis promoting growth factor called Transforming growth factor-beta1, compared to those that inherited normal DNA.

The study published in Nature thus suggests that a history of liver fibrosis in male can protect their male progeny from such disease in next generation. But this protective adaptation was limited to liver and was not found to protect other organs, for example kidney, from fibrosis.

Although it remains to be determined how applicable these findings are in humans, this report should not result in believing that paternal liver injury would protect against the alcohol abuse-related liver diseases. We must therefore resist temptation to run to the bar with the logic to give protection to our future sons because many other genetic and environmental components are involved in liver diseases.