Dr.

OBannons Report
Patient: John Abrams
Greetings, Mr. Abrams, I regret
to inform you that, as of February 28,
2016, you have been diagnosed with
cancer, specifically Non-Small Cell
Lung Cancer. Now, I understand this
may be bad news, but fortunately, you
tested positive for only Stage 1
NSCLC. Because your cancer is still
relatively recent, there is a very high
statistical chance for you to survive
the 5-year mark, which is the best we
can hope for. Before I can tell you
what caused your cancer, I need to
give you some background
information so you can understand the
context of what I am about to tell you.

safeguards meant to protect the cell

from defects, such as abnormal cell
growth.

Nucleotides in DNA

Interphase and Mitosis Processes

To start, your cancer all began
in your normal cells, which undertake
two major processes. These two
processes are interphase and mitosis.
What happens in interphase is that the
cell is busy undergoing changes to
prepare it for mitosis, such as growing
and metabolizing. The next stage is in
mitosis, where the cell stops growing,
and begins dividing into 2 cells. In
each of these main processes, there
are sub-processes that occur. Inbetween each of these are
checkpoints in the process, which are

In addition, your DNA, or

Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid, is another
critical component of the cell cycle.
The main purpose of your DNA is to be
a set of instructions for your genetic
information that lets your cells have a
clear picture of what to build. More
specifically, different parts of your
DNA can fall under different
categorizations, such as
macromolecules, monomers and
nucleotides. Macromolecules are large
molecules made up smaller subunits,
monomers are the smaller subunits
that make up a macromolecule and
nucleotides are specific monomers
that make up nucleic acids, like DNA.
Anyways, DNA is classified as a nucleic
acid, in terms of a macromolecule.
When broken down, its monomers are
nucleotides. There are 3 nucleotide
parts that make up DNA: Phosphate,
Deoxyribose Sugar and Nitrogenous
Base. Finally, DNA replicates through

semi-conservative replication, in which

half of a original DNA cell joins with a
new complementary DNA strain.
In your cell, a defect or deficiency in
one process of the cell cycle might
pop-up. Cancers do not originate in
any one cell cycle process, such as
interphase or mitosis. However,
checkpoints in your cell cycle are
meant to prevent any irregular DNA
from replicating to create more
defective cells. If necessary, the cell
will either self-destruct or ask other
cells to destroy it.

As for how these facts tie into the how

you got cancer, Mr. Abrams, it is
because your cancer started with a
defective cell producing bad strains of
your DNA. Sometimes, certain
irregular strains of your DNA are able
to slip past the cells checkpoints and
create more cells with its DNA.
Eventually, these cells will
exponentially grow to the point where
they are now infecting major organs of
your body and causing damage. In
your case, Mr. Abrams, your cancer
started out in your lungs and is now
trying to spread to your diaphragm.