Did you know that you have more than a trillion atoms of uranium in your body right now and hundreds of these atoms are radioactively disintegrating every day? So you are radioactive right now. Where do these come from? From the food we eat and the air we breathe (and they’ve always been there). [Demonstration using a Geiger counter] But if this is the case, how can radiation cancer? cure Remember when a cell gets with radiation, one or more of the within its DNA may lose – ‘zapped’ electrons which can cause it to produce an inexact copy of itself when it comes to replicating. Or it (the cell) may be damaged to such an extent that it dies completely. With radiation treatment the aim is to zap existing bad cells with enough ionising radiation that all the bad cells die off rather than reproduce. The trick of course is to hit the bad cells but not any neighbouring good cells. Which is easier said than done. Which is why we need trained radiologists. These folk look at the tumour and determine how much radiation is needed and where the best place to aim it is. Quiz question: does radiation give you superpowers? Yes mutations for evolution – There are background levels of radiation everywhere, and doses we can easily endure with no ill effect Tumours An individual cell may grow and divide to form a mass of identical cells called a tumour. Two benign and malignant Benign tumour • Cells soon stop dividing and do not invade tissues. – tumour Malignant • Uncontrolled division of cells which can then invade surrounding tissue. – Cancer A malignant tumour is also known as a • “cancer”. A is a mass of which have lost the ability to control the rate and frequency of mitosis, and cancer • which invade and disrupt surrounding tissue. Cancerous cells can break off from the tumour and travel in the circulatory system to new sites to form • new tumours. This is known as metastasis. • Causes of Cancer Certain genes are crucial to maintain normal cell behaviour. • If these genes are mutated, cancers can result. • genes are known as oncogenes. • Carcinogens are cancer-causing agents cause mutations in oncogenes. • Examples: • cigarette smoke – UV radiation – certain viruses –
Did you know that you have more than a trillion atoms of uranium in your body right now and hundreds of these atoms are radioactively disintegrating every day? So you are radioactive right now. Where do these come from? From the food we eat and the air we breathe (and they’ve always been there). [Demonstration using a Geiger counter] But if this is the case, how can radiation cure cancer? Remember – when a cell gets ‘zapped’ with radiation, one or more of the within its DNA may lose electrons which can cause it to produce an inexact copy of itself when it comes to replicating. Or it (the cell) may be damaged to such an extent that it dies completely. With radiation treatment the aim is to zap existing bad cells with enough ionising radiation that all the bad cells die off rather than reproduce. The trick of course is to hit the bad cells but not any neighbouring good cells. Which is easier said than done. Which is why we need trained radiologists. These folk look at the tumour and determine how much radiation is needed and where the best place to aim it is. Quiz question: does radiation give you superpowers? Yes – mutations for evolution There are background levels of radiation everywhere, and doses we can easily endure with no ill effect Tumours An individual cell may grow and divide to form a mass of identical cells called a tumour. Two benign and malignant • Benign tumour – Cells soon stop dividing and do not invade tissues. • Malignant tumour – Uncontrolled division of cells which can then invade surrounding tissue. Cancer • A malignant tumour is also known as a “cancer”. • A cancer is a mass of which have lost the ability to control the rate and frequency of mitosis, and which invade and disrupt surrounding tissue. • Cancerous cells can break off from the tumour and travel in the circulatory system to new sites to form new tumours. • This is known as metastasis. Causes of Cancer • Certain genes are crucial to maintain normal cell behaviour. • If these genes are mutated, cancers can result. • genes are known as oncogenes. • Carcinogens are cancer-causing agents cause mutations in oncogenes. • Examples: – cigarette smoke – UV radiation – certain viruses
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