AMC Original Series, “Breaking Bad”

“Never give up control. Live life on your own terms.”

CancerUnrestrained cell growth and division that can lead to serious health problems.

Cancer cells are the result of DNA sequence mutations.

These errors in cell DNA ruin a cell’s ability to control it’s own division cycle.

A cancer cell can freely divide uncountable times.

The ability of cancer cells to divide indefinitely is a result of cancer cells rebuilding their telomeres after each cell division.

Phil Mayor, Slideshare.net, “What is Cancer?”

VirusesFORMS OF ENERGY

Chemicals

Mutations in a cell’s DNA can be caused by certain viruses, exposure to high levels of energy and chemical exposure.

Forms of Energy

High levels of energy such as;

X rays, nuclear radiation and

rays from the sun can cause cancer mutations.

ChemicalsCarcinogens are various substances,energy forms and types of radiation that is directly connected the cause of cancer.

VirusesAn oncovirus is any virus that causes cancer.The name refers to the cell’s infected RNA or DNA.

Sarah Leen, science.nationalgeographic.com, Science Photo Gallery, Cancer

Cancer Cells are specifically different than normal cells in two ways

1) The cell loses it’s “contact inhibition”Normally, cells divide until they bump up against other collections of cells. Cancer cells ignore the signal and continue to divide at a very high density.(formation of tumors)

2) Cancer cells divide indefinitelyA healthy human cell divides until it touches other cells or until the section of DNA found at the tip of a chromosome is to short to divide again. This section of DNA is

called a telomere. A cancer cell will rebuild it’s telomeres each time that it divides. Cancer cells can divide forever if not fought with chemical treatment.

The normal cell tissue is healthy because it isn’t over run with dense clusters of cells.The Cancerous cell tissue is at a very high density level due to the cancer cell’s ignorance to contact inhibition.

Phil Mayor, Slideshare.net, “What is Cancer?”

Benign

MalignantBenign tumors are just an abundanceof normal cells that mass together. Typically, many moles on a person’s body are benign masses of cells.

Malignant tumors are the mass of cancer cells that never stopped dividing. Malignant tumors shed off and get into a person’s Circulatory system. This is how cancer spreads and when it does, it is called,

Metastasis.

Zephyr/Science Photo Library, science.nationalgeographic.com, Science, Photo Gallery, Cancer

This cancer patient is an example of Metastasis.The cancer (orange areas) began growth in the lungs before it spread to the brain. MRI imagesshow the nine tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging.

This image shows the two distinctions from a normal cell. 1) Loss of contact inhibition2) Dividing indefinitely

How do I actually Die Yo?!Surprisingly, death does not occur from some chemical release or weird genetic property. As cancerous tumors grow, it takes up larger and larger amounts of room.Eventually the tumor presses up against important cells and tissues. It is the growth of the tumor that interrupts and stops organs from carrying out normal functions.

Organ dysfunction like this can have dangerous results in our body when importanttissues are affected.

Our Liver Our LungsOur Heart

.. could stop detoxificationof toxins that go through ourBody.

.. could be blocked, restricting our bodies from getting oxygen.

.. could be unable to pumpBlood through out body.

Moredun Animal Health Ltd/Science Photo Library, science.nationalgeographic.com, Science photo gallery, Cancer

Picture of a cancerous tumor insideof a human lung. The tumor is covered in microscopic hairlike structures called microvilli, which allow absorption and secretion.

Breaking BadAMC Original Series

To Treat Cancer… The rapidly growing cell collection must be surgically removed or stopped. To slow down or stop the growth of a tumor, chemotherapy and radiation are used to interrupt cell division among the cancerous tumors.

Terrible side effects are a result to chemotherapy. Not only are the cancerous tumorsslowed down in growth but other systems of the body are effected. For example, red blood cells are produced at a slower rate causing less oxygen to be produced. Patients endure extreme fatigue and shortness or breath.

When chemotherapy interferes with the division of bone marrow stem cells, the production of platelets and white blood cells are reduced. This increases bruising, bleeding and the chance of infection.

Hair follicles are also slowed down by chemotherapy.

Aragon-Ching, J. Zujewski, CNS metastasis “An old problem in a new guise.” “Clinical Cancer Research,” (2007) (13(6):1644-1647) http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/13/6.toc

ASCO “American Society of Clinical Oncology.” (2005) (10-11-11)http://www.asco.org/

National Health Information Center. “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (10-11-11)

National Institute on Aging, National Library of Medicine. “NiH Senior Health.” (5-4-11) Web http://nihseniorhealth.gov/category/cancer.html

Rosen, Leo, Gloria. “American Cancer Society.” Web (10-11-11)http://www.cancer.org

Talmadge, Fidler. “AACR Centennial Series: The Biology Of Cancer Metastasis: Historical Perspective.” (2010) (sec. 70)(14) (pg: 5649-5669) http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/70/14/5649.full