5 ms·

extremely naive, dumb questeion: could cancer cells stem from some errant mutation of B cells? this might help explain why cancer cells grow uncontrollably and

extremely naive, dumb questeion: could cancer cells stem from some errant mutation of B cells? this might help explain why cancer cells grow uncontrollably and also escape detection by the immune system.

deergomoo 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-cell_lymphoma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-cell_lymphoma
- panabee 6y ago
  thanks for sharing this link. is it possible that other cancer cells are further downstream mutations of B cells?
flobosg 6y ago
> could cancer cells stem from some errant mutation of B cells? That is exactly how lymphomas originate.
- AstralStorm 6y ago
  Also the replication machinery being easy to trigger is why it's the second most common cancer after skin cancers. (Which shares some of those features in addition to being even more exposed to insults and less controlled.)
  - Engineering-MD 6y ago
    Where do you get that figure from? All the figures I have state lung and bowel cancers are the most common, along with prostrate and breast for sex specific cancers (although looking at their rates they would be the higher even though their rates in the other sex are exceedingly low).
    - AstralStorm 6y ago
      That's because melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer are split, as other lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma etc. in data despite affecting same cell lines. If you sum these two up they end on top respectively in that order. Albeit prostate cancer is really close. It's an artifact of grouping used. For colorectal for example, adenomas and carcinomas are lumped for a change. Prostate is the second most common worldwide, or skin cancer, depending on year. The big 5 are over 1.5 million. (WCRF data. They lump all lung cancers but split immune system and skin cancers. For reasons? Bladder and lung cancer incidence is highly dependent on factors such as smoking and specific chemicals used in manufacturing. Potentially the same with colorectal and diet. Rates for breast and prostate are high because they're easy to spot and well tested. So per country data varies a lot.)
      - flobosg 6y ago
        Non-melanoma skin cancer is usually excluded from registries due to differences across the world in data recording practices: https://www.ncri.ie/faqs/interpret-use-our-data/why-are-data-non-melanoma-skin-cancer-sometimes-excluded https://www.ncri.ie/faqs/interpret-use-our-data/why-are-data...
- panabee 6y ago
  is it possible that other cancer cells are further downstream mutations of B cells? thanks for sharing. sorry if these are dumb questions.
  - flobosg 6y ago
    It is unlikely, given that B cells are already differentiated. This means that they are unable to change into another cell type.
    - panabee 6y ago
      thanks for the clarification. phrased another way: could the same process that spawns these legions of B cells also inadvertently spawn cancer cells? related: healthy cells exhibit properties that allow them to go ignored by the immune system, similar to a VIP pass for bypassing security at a basketball game. is this right? if yes, what are the minimal properties that constitute this cellular VIP pass? thanks for your help.
neuronic 6y ago
B cells carry the same DNA as all other cells. The difference between cell types is in what sections are functionally expressed (made into proteins that do their work). This is determined by a multitude of factors. Cancer cells typically have mutations, even just single base pair changes, which change the way that genes are expressed in the cell and thereby influence such behavior. The original functions of the B cell aren't necessarily needed for other cell types to exhibit similar functions. The base plan is there, it just needs a nudge.
DrAwdeOccarim 6y ago
Yes! Exactly.

deergomoo 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-cell_lymphoma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-cell_lymphoma

panabee 6y ago
thanks for sharing this link. is it possible that other cancer cells are further downstream mutations of B cells?

flobosg 6y ago

> could cancer cells stem from some errant mutation of B cells? That is exactly how lymphomas originate.

AstralStorm 6y ago
Also the replication machinery being easy to trigger is why it's the second most common cancer after skin cancers. (Which shares some of those features in addition to being even more exposed to insults and less controlled.)
- Engineering-MD 6y ago
  Where do you get that figure from? All the figures I have state lung and bowel cancers are the most common, along with prostrate and breast for sex specific cancers (although looking at their rates they would be the higher even though their rates in the other sex are exceedingly low).
  - AstralStorm 6y ago
    That's because melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer are split, as other lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma etc. in data despite affecting same cell lines. If you sum these two up they end on top respectively in that order. Albeit prostate cancer is really close. It's an artifact of grouping used. For colorectal for example, adenomas and carcinomas are lumped for a change. Prostate is the second most common worldwide, or skin cancer, depending on year. The big 5 are over 1.5 million. (WCRF data. They lump all lung cancers but split immune system and skin cancers. For reasons? Bladder and lung cancer incidence is highly dependent on factors such as smoking and specific chemicals used in manufacturing. Potentially the same with colorectal and diet. Rates for breast and prostate are high because they're easy to spot and well tested. So per country data varies a lot.)
    - flobosg 6y ago
      Non-melanoma skin cancer is usually excluded from registries due to differences across the world in data recording practices: https://www.ncri.ie/faqs/interpret-use-our-data/why-are-data-non-melanoma-skin-cancer-sometimes-excluded https://www.ncri.ie/faqs/interpret-use-our-data/why-are-data...
panabee 6y ago
is it possible that other cancer cells are further downstream mutations of B cells? thanks for sharing. sorry if these are dumb questions.
- flobosg 6y ago
  It is unlikely, given that B cells are already differentiated. This means that they are unable to change into another cell type.
  - panabee 6y ago
    thanks for the clarification. phrased another way: could the same process that spawns these legions of B cells also inadvertently spawn cancer cells? related: healthy cells exhibit properties that allow them to go ignored by the immune system, similar to a VIP pass for bypassing security at a basketball game. is this right? if yes, what are the minimal properties that constitute this cellular VIP pass? thanks for your help.

neuronic 6y ago

B cells carry the same DNA as all other cells. The difference between cell types is in what sections are functionally expressed (made into proteins that do their work). This is determined by a multitude of factors. Cancer cells typically have mutations, even just single base pair changes, which change the way that genes are expressed in the cell and thereby influence such behavior. The original functions of the B cell aren't necessarily needed for other cell types to exhibit similar functions. The base plan is there, it just needs a nudge.

DrAwdeOccarim 6y ago

Yes! Exactly.