• Question: are mutations and cancer related?

    Asked by isita3012 to Clare, Mariana, Pedro, Robert, Susanne on 20 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Robert Insall

      Robert Insall answered on 20 Nov 2012:

      Absolutely. Mutations are typically a cause of cancer. The most common ones are in the genes that controls cells’ growth; they may make cells grow too fast, or take the brakes off things that normally stop them growing.

    • Photo: Susanne Muekusch

      Susanne Muekusch answered on 20 Nov 2012:

      Additionally to what Robert said: After the initial mutation cancer cells are more and more prone to acquire more mutations. Not every cell with a mutation turns into a cancerous cell! Most cells just kill themselves. Some time ago the hypothesis was that it takes an average of seven mutations to trigger cancer.

    • Photo: Clare Taylor

      Clare Taylor answered on 20 Nov 2012:

      For sure! Here’s an example in lung cancer with a short video clip http://www.lungcancer.org/reading/about.php
      But @susanne is right – not all mutations lead to cancer. And we don’t always know what causes the mutations.

    • Photo: Mariana Campos

      Mariana Campos answered on 21 Nov 2012:

      Hi Isita,
      Yes, mutations are usually in the origin of cancer as Robert said. But not all mutations lead to cancer. And did you know that the cell tries to correct those mutations? Sometimes is not possible though…

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