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Cancer and Alcohol: An Overview of Tumorigenesis

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Alcohol and Cancer

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Abstract

The word cancer, derived from the Greek term for crab (carcinos), was coined by the father of medicine, Hippocrates (460–370 BC), in describing the physical resemblance of malignant tumors that had spread throughout the human body. Today, we know cancer to be a collection of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells (Kleinsmith 2006).

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Abbreviations

AKT:

Protein kinase B

APC:

Adenomatous polyposis coli

BRAF:

v-raf Murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1

Bcl2:

B-cell lymphoma 2

CRC:

Colorectal cancer

Kras:

v-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog

MAPK:

Mitogen-activated protein kinase

PI3K:

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase

P53:

Tumor protein 53

Rb:

Retinoblastoma protein

TGFb:

Transforming growth factor beta

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Acknowledgments

This chapter is based largely on information presented in Principles of Cancer Biology by Lewis Kleinsmith (2006) and from the seminal review The Hallmarks of Cancer by Douglas Hanahan and Robert Weinberg (2000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Metabolism and Health Effects, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    William C. Dunty Jr. PhD

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  1. William C. Dunty Jr. PhD
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Correspondence to William C. Dunty Jr. PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Division of Metabolism and Health Effect, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and, 5635 Fishers Lane, Room 2031, Bethesda, 20892-9304, Maryland, USA

    Samir Zakhari

  2. , Deparment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, 12700 East 19th Ave, Aurora, 80045, Colorado, USA

    Vasilis Vasiliou

  3. , Division of Metabolism and Health Effect, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and, 5635 Fishers Lane, Room 2031, Bethesda, 20892-9304, Maryland, USA

    Q. Max Guo

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Dunty, W.C. (2011). Cancer and Alcohol: An Overview of Tumorigenesis. In: Zakhari, S., Vasiliou, V., Guo, Q. (eds) Alcohol and Cancer. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0040-0_2

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