CARCINOGENS AND MECHANISM OF PATHOGENESIS

Cancer as we all people know is a very vast exhaustive subject and terms used such as
carcinogens, carcinogenesis, field cancerization etc raise a lot of doubts rather than
clarify it. So I would like to answer your query in as simple terms as possible.

1. Some chemicals are known to cause cancer either by genotoxic or non- genotoxic
mechanisms...such are chemical carcinogens.
Genotoxic mechanisms include DNA changes, chromosomal damage,mis-segregation,
fusion, nondisjunction.
Non genotoxic mechanisms include inflammation, immunosuppression, reactive oxygen
or nitrogen species, epigenetic silencing.
Examples of them benzene,beryllium,asbestos, vinyl chloride, arsenic etc.
In case of smoking these chemical carcinogens when inhaled through respiratory
epithelium, the epithelial cells undergo severe modifications including damage to their
DNA, altering their normal functions, excessive production of growth factor leading to
cellular damage pile up.

This leads to cancer anywhere in the entire airway where these chemical concentration
is high enough to bring about cellular modifications.
Eg: lung cancer, throat cancer, oral cancer.

2. alcohol consumption
Excessive alcohol consumption leads to liver damage. The cells then try to repair
themselves, but the chemicals ethanol n acetaldehyde found in alcohol attach
themselves into the cells hindering normal functions.

Alcohol further upsets the balance of flora and fauna in gastro tract resulting in severe
irritation and inflammation thus paving way for non-genotoxic mechanism of chemical
carcinogenesis

3. Use of excessive plastics and plastic water bottles

Toxic chemicals in plastic covers and bottles such as bisphenol-A, dioxins, DEHP,
PHTHALATES.
They leach out everytime in our food and drinks releasing endocrine disrupting
molecules thus initiating a chemical carcinogenesis cycle on the body cells.

4. Some physical agents either endogenous or exogenous also cause cancer.....physical

carcinogens
Eg: endogenous agents- bile acids, macrophage and neutrophil produced ROS,RNS.
Exogenous agents- smoke, radiation, metals, viruses
These agents directly cause DNA damage either by germ line mutation or somatic
mutation or epigenetic alteration resulting in large increase of unrepaired damaged cells
with multiply altered field defects with driver mutations causing cancer...physical
carcinogenesis.
Working with excessive radiation and
Long term exposure to gamma rays and x rays cause ionization reactions in the
molecular level leading to damage of cells....thus initiating physical carcinogenesis cycle.

5. UV rays from natural sunlight is also an ionizing radiation which causes skin cell
damage with heavy exposure.
6. Viral infections as counted under exogenous agents for physical carcinogens has
power to damage cells genetically.

7. Recently aflotoxin-B1 is associated with increased chances of liver cancer. There's a

Kenyan outbreak as such followed by poor harvest of maize which is molded by
aspergillus.
They stored harvest in their homes which are warmer and moist thus releasing toxins
leading to acute aflatoxin poisoning of them who have survived diagnosed to be with
high chances of developing hepatocellular carcinoma.

8. Burnt or heavily roasted meat releases heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons like benzene which are chemical carcinogens

9. Stress fuels cancer by triggering master gene called ATF3 that is important and linked
with breast cancer.

10. Zinc and antioxidants are basically chemicals those interact with and neutralize free
radicals.
These free radicals if not neutralized potentially interfere in cell membrane functions,
production of energy in mitochondrial level leading delayed death of cells causing
massive pile up as cancerous tumors.

Hope this will satisfy your query.

Feel free to ask anything else....