Briefly describe what happens in each of the three general s

Briefly describe what happens in each of the three general stages of carcinogenesis.

Solution

The 3 general stages of carcinogenesis includes initiation, promotion and progression.

A sequence of events transforms a normal cell into a malignant cell. First a rare mutation occurs in the genome of a somatic cell and confers growth advantage or deviates from the cell normal constraints on cell division. The DNA repair machinery may be disrupted increasing the rate of mutation in the genome. A second mutation may occur in the mitotic descendant of this cell.

Other mutations may cause additional cancerous properties in the later descendant cells. Once a cell within the lineage acquired enough number of mutations it generates a clone proliferating into cancer cell that grow and divide rapidly and invade the surrounding normal tissue. The progress of cancer overtime occurs because of the cells of this clone acquire some more mutations that increase the malignancy of the tumor.