Cancer

  

 

 

 

Liberty University  

Master of Science Health Informatics  

BIOM 500-D01 LUO 

  

  

  

Bacterial Agents in Cancer Development   

Robert Wahlstedt  

ID:  L29900431  

March 24, 2019 

 

Words: 731 

 

The method of studying a section of human anatomy and contrasting it with other diseases can be helpful for understanding the prognosis of both diseases. An example of this is contrasting tuberculosis with cancer. A micro-environment can refer to the immediate small-scale environment of an organism or a part of an organism, especially a distinct part of a larger environment. Within the human body there are epithelial tissue which provides a surface for many internal and external surfaces of the body. Its role is as a protective barrier which filters the absorption of materials. When a foreign invading particle which the body is not familiar with, the epithelial tissues attempt to either absorb the particle in a manner that diffuses the toxicity or excretes the particle as a waste product. Because epithelial cells are so ubiquitous, they are classified according to the thickness and number of layers. Squamous epithelial cells may look like cubes that are in a column. Squamous epithelial cells may occur in single or multiple layers. Both single and multiple layers have an advantage. Single layers allow for the diffusion of material along the cell wall while multiple layers allow for cells to replenish themselves1. In single layers we see that they can become ducts that allow fluids to travel through them.  

Leprosy and tuberculosis are similar diseases to cancer which can teach us about biological interactions. Both leprosy and tuberculosis have a type of mycobacteria which shows similar properties to fungi. Dr Livingston, a World War II doctor analyzed tissue samples by watching tissues sometimes change colors when exposed to alcohol in a biopsy. Alcohol today is a chemical like vinegar which is a disinfectant. In 1882, Robert Koch called these biopsy tissue, that do change colors, acid fast. In the lungs this technique is beneficial because it can be used in identifying the tubercle bacillus and acid-fastness when classifying mycobacteria. During the World War II, Livingston Dr. Livingston had an encounter with a woman who had a type of condition that Dr. Livingston thinks is a new sclera bacillus and treated with a medication for leprosy. Dr Livingston studied biopsies of the microorganism and found that it was neither lepra nor tubercle bacillus. She experimented with various types of tumor biopsies seeing which ones could be injected into animals and cause cancerous effects. Livingston was concerned that she might have contaminated the samples, so she obtained samples directly from the operating room and saw the same microbes on her slides. When these microbes were cultured and injected into mice, many of these mice developed cancer or a collagen disease such as scleroderma or lupus erythematosus. Later Livingston and Alexander Jackson were able to obtain animal tissue samples infected with tumors caused by viruses such as Rouse, Walker, Sprage-Dawley. Shopes and sarcoma-180. These tissue cells produced had small cocci which is a spherical bacterium inside the cells which they believed were intracellular cancer pathogens. Livingston later classified the pleomorphic microorganisms that caused cancer as part of the actinomycetal order of bacteria. In the 1940s Duran-Reynals worked on the Rous virus and showed that it could possibly be transmitted to other bird species. Duran-Reynals believed that viruses evolved in a pathway gaining more functionality over its time as a prion2. 

Tuberculosis is a disease like cancer in that it has squamous dysplasia cell sarcoma. When chemical signals reach the bone marrow from the pathogen, the bone marrow steps up production of white blood cells. Some of these are rushed by the production process that could be done is minutes, so they are half-finished to join the battle against the invading particles3.  There would be puss produced as the result of the battle between the cells. Then once the battle is over, the body would return to normal operations3. The answer to finding out more about cancer might rest within the chemical restraint system used to slow the body’s defenses and restore a sense of normalcy. 

To explain more about the restoration, process a brief understanding of chemoprevention is needed. Chemoprevention is defined as the natural or chemically synthesized compounds to prevent, inhabit, or reverse the process of carcinogenesis4. High levels of vitamin E in younger men with fewer years of smoking are associated with lowering lung cancer incidence4. The New York University’s Women’s health study showed that women who used Aspirin three or more times a day had a decreased risk of lung cancer4. 

 

1. Bullock B, Rosendahl PP. Pathophysiology: Adaptions and Alterations in Function. . J.B. Lippincott Company; 1992. 

2. Hess DJ. Can Bacteria Cause Cancer. New York: New York University; 1997. 

3. Dormandy T. The White Death: A History of Tuberculosis. New York, NY: New York University Press; 2000. 

4. Yarbro CH, Frogge MH, Goodman M. Cancer Nursing: Principles and Practices. 6 ed: Jones and Bartlet; 2005.