Henrietta Lacks and her family are another one of the many black families that have been treated unfairly in this country. Many haven’t heard of them before, but some may have in forms they didn’t realize. Henrietta Lacks has been known by a few names, HeLa, the immortal cells, have been used to advance modern medicine since 1951. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer after the birth of one of her children. At the time there were few hospitals that treated people of color and while she was at Johns Hopkins receiving treatment a doctor took tissue samples without her or her family’s consent. These were the first human cells to ever be cultured and grown in a lab but they were taken without proper consent. Though Henrietta has helped all of us receive better care her family didn’t know all of this was happening after she had passed. They still were not able to receive the same care as many of us do now. What was done was not right and moments like this are still happening today. We thank her for her contributions, but what happened was not right. Moments like this are still happening and no person should be persecuted for the color of their skin. We can change the world if we fight now. I encourage you to look up her and her family and what she has contributed and continues to contribute to our lives.
The book covering her story is phenomenal. If you are anywhere within the science world, you should read it!
Well it’s called myleogenous leukemia. So obviously the leukocytes will be increased. But, what are myelocytes? They’re baby granulocytic cells, granulocytic cells create basophils and eosinophils. So look for increased white blood cells, granulocytes, and basophils.
Break it down and you can figure out what you’re looking for!
Why is it so difficult to cure cancer? We’ve harnessed electricity, sequenced the human genome, and eradicated small pox. But after billions of dollars in research, we haven’t found a solution for a disease that affects more than 14 million people and their families at any given time.
Cancer arises as normal cells accumulate mutations. Most of the time, cells can detect mutations or DNA damage and either fix them or self destruct. However, some mutations allow cancerous cells to grow unchecked and invade nearby tissues, or even metastasize to distant organs. Cancers become almost incurable once they metastasize. And cancer is incredibly complex. It’s not just one disease. There are more than 100 different types and we don’t have a magic bullet that can cure all of them.
For most cancers, treatments usually include a combination of surgery to remove tumors and radiation and chemotherapy to kill any cancerous cells left behind. Hormone therapies, immunotherapy, and targeted treatments tailored for a specific type of cancer are sometimes used, too. In many cases, these treatments are effective and the patient becomes cancer-free. But they’re very far from 100% effective 100% of the time. So what would we have to do to find cures for all the different forms of cancer? We’re beginning to understand a few of the problems scientists would have to solve.
First of all, we need new, better ways of studying cancer. Most cancer treatments are developed using cell lines grown in labs from cultures of human tumors. These cultured cells have given us critical insights about cancer genetics and biology, but they lack much of the complexity of a tumor in an actual living organism. It’s frequently the case that new drugs, which work on these lab-grown cells, will fail in clinical trials with real patients.
One of the complexities of aggressive tumors is that they can have multiple populations of slightly different cancerous cells. Over time, distinct genetic mutations accumulate in cells in different parts of the tumor, giving rise to unique subclones.
For example, aggressive brain tumors called glioblastomas can have as many as six different subclones in a single patient. This is called clonal heterogeneity, and it makes treatment difficult because a drug that works on one subclone may have no effect on another.
Here’s another challenge. A tumor is a dynamic interconnected ecosystem where cancer cells constantly communicate with each other and with healthy cells nearby. They can induce normal cells to form blood vessels that feed the tumor and remove waste products. They can also interact with the immune system to actually suppress its function, keeping it from recognizing or destroying the cancer. If we could learn how to shut down these lines of communication, we’d have a better shot at vanquishing a tumor permanently.
Additionally, mounting evidence suggests we’ll need to figure out how to eradicate cancer stem cells. These are rare but seem to have special properties that make them resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. In theory, even if the rest of the tumor shrinks beyond detection during treatment, a single residual cancer stem cell could seed the growth of a new tumor. Figuring out how to target these stubborn cells might help prevent cancers from coming back.
Even if we solved those problems, we might face new ones. Cancer cells are masters of adaptation, adjusting their molecular and cellular characteristics to survive under stress. When they’re bombarded by radiation or chemotherapy, some cancer cells can effectively switch on protective shields against whatever’s attacking them by changing their gene expression. Malignant cancers are complex systems that constantly evolve and adapt. To defeat them, we need to find experimental systems that match their complexity, and monitoring and treatment options that can adjust as the cancer changes.
But the good news is we’re making progress. Even with all we don’t know, the average mortality rate for most kinds of cancer has dropped significantly since the 1970s and is still falling. We’re learning more every day, and each new piece of information gives us one more tool to add to our arsenal.
Looking at tissue sections to see their normal histology in my new pathology module. Next week we’re looking at cancerous tissues to see the difference. 🔬🦠
“GIANTmicrobes is a toy company based in Stamford, Connecticut founded by Drew Oliver in 2002. GIANTmicrobes manufactures designer plush stuffed toys resembling microbes, including human pathogens such as E. coli and the Epstein-Barr virus. Each 5-7 inch long toy is based on electron micrographs of the real microbe, thus the toys represent an approximate million-fold magnification of the actual organisms and can serve as educational toys or mascots. The scientific theme of the toys combined with their friendly looks gave them an appeal to both children and adults.
Each microbe includes a printed card with fun, educational and fascinating facts, with a selection of over 150 different microbes and cells. They’re available in four sizes: 5-inch Originals, 12-inch XL, 2-foot Gigantics, 3-inch Minis in gift boxes & keychains. They are perfect gift for students, scientists, teachers, health professionals & anyone with a healthy sense of humor!”
Our basal cells line the deepest layer of our epidermis; they continually divide, pushing older ones towards the skin surface. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the uncontrolled growth of these cells and the most common type of cancer in the US. Researchers have found that BCC-like tumours arise from certain hair follicle stem cells mainly because a cascade of molecules – the hedgehog signalling pathway – is abnormally activated. Triggering this pathway requires the loss of genes called tumour suppressors, which work to protect cells from becoming cancerous. Pictured is skin with hair follicles – the emerging hair is seen as a green spear. Nerves were found to be crucial for this tumour progression. Denervating – interrupting the nervous connections – reduced the number of cells at risk of becoming tumours. This is seen as a difference in the red BCs (above the roundish green cells) between normal (top panels) and denervated samples (bottom).
Pigeons can distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissue in
x-rays and microscope slides with an accuracy rate of up to 99%,
according to a new study in Plos One.
In a series of three experiments, led by Richard Levenson, professor
of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of California
Davis Medical Center, it was found that pigeons have the capacity to
learn how to identify whether an image shows healthy or cancerous breast
tissue. The birds “share many visual system properties with humans”,
according to the study.
During the first experiment, eight pigeons were presented with 144
breast tissue images, at various levels of magnification and with and
without color. The birds could then peck a blue or yellow button on
either side of each image, to indicate whether it was cancerous or
healthy.
If they chose correctly, they were rewarded with food but if they
chose incorrectly, they were presented with the image again and again
until they correctly identified it.
“With some training and selective food reinforcement, pigeons do just
as well as humans in categorizing digitized slides and mammograms of
benign and malignant human breast tissue,” Levenson told the International Business Times.
A pigeon being trained to screen images of benign and malignant breast tissue University of Iowa/Wassermann/PA
