[ RadSafe ] Cancer (Chemical, Physical Basis)

[JPreisig at aol.com]

Dear Radsafe,
 
     Hope you are well.
 
     Guess there is another level of complexity  introduced to the model of 
a normal human cell --- the existence of the cellular  nucleus.  The 
nucleus is the central part of a cell, membrane enclosed and  an organelle.  Been 
so long since I even learned of organelles.  The  DNA is enclosed in the 
nucleus.
 
     I'll revisit somewhat what I think I am modeling  in a cellular cancer 
genesis model.  We start with a normal cell exposed  internally or 
externally to radiation or perhaps to a fluid containing some  percentage of 
chemical(s) outside of the cell.
 
     1.  When exposed to a chemical carcinogen the  cell wall/boundary may 
expand so that the cell might obtain more nutrients  and/or oxygen from the 
volume exterior to the cell.
 
     2.  The cell itself may try to accelerate  osmosis/diffusion, other 
processes to obtain more nutrients if surrounded by a  matrix of a chemical 
carcinogen etc.  This may not be a good thing, if a  
carcinogen/mutagen/chemical is being brought into the cell.
 
     3.  If a cell is immersed in a  carcinogen/mutagen/chemical it may try 
to reproduce quickly to obtain more  oxygen/nutrients.  Again this could 
provide some difficulty/exposure if the  cell is incorporating 
carcinogens/chemicals etc. into its immediate  volume.
 
     4.  (NEW???) The cell nucleus boundary is  another interface which 
carcinogens/chemicals etc. must cross to get to the  interior of the nucleus.  
This interface crossing may be done by diffusion,  osmosis, other processes. 
 Once the nucleus boundary is crossed (this  process should be modeled by 
scientists etc.) carcinogen/chemical exposure can  happen to the DNA and 
other substances within the cellular nucleus.  At  this point chemical 
reactions, which are dependent on the chemicals involved,  can occur and can modify 
the DNA, and thereby modify the various bodily traits  contained in the DNA.  
What goes on is strongly dependent on which  chemicals are involved.  One 
wonders at this point if the DNA has any  information on how to respond to 
such chemical/carcinogen invasion, possibly  dependent on which chemicals are 
involved.
I will leave this research topic to those folks who are working on human  
DNA mapping.  Depending on which parts of the DNA are affected, various  body 
organs etc. can be affected.  If the chemical concentation is  sufficient 
(remember the concept of titer/titre from you Radiation Chemistry  class???), 
and perhaps if the body's immune system is weak enough (without yet  
modeling the body's adaptive pocesses, Mohan Doss), the chemically-induced  
DNA-modification processes can go forward, affecting DNA functions, cellular  
division and so on.  No wonder there are so many different bodily  cancers.  So, 
maybe all the preceding statements describe somewhat how a  normal human 
cell is turned into a cancerous cell.  Possibly benign cells  becoming 
malignant also....
 
    With the many new supercomputers, perhaps these various  processes can 
be mathematically modeled,  or perhaps tested in the  laboratory.  The 
diffusion/osmosis rate across the cell boundary may be  different from the rate 
across the cell nucleus boundary.  Perhaps the body  does have various 
defense systems (the basis for immunotherapy???) against  cancer induction and 
growth.
 
    Of course, more physical cancer induction may involve  radiation 
(alpha, beta, gamma, xray, heavy ions)
hitting cells from internal or external sources.  From Eric Hall's  book on 
Radiation Biology/Biophysics or other books you all??? may be familiar  
with the various processes associated with radiation-produced cancer induction  
--- single strand DNA breaks, double strand breaks, knock-out collisions,  
various scattering processes, etc.  Some mutations will go forward and  
produce various deleterious (or perhaps even positive) effects.  There are  
people on Radsafe who are much more qualified to speak on these processes than  
me.
But for one thing, compare the size of the various radiations versus the  
size/scale of a DNA strand.  I wish good luck, and fast/efficient computing  
facilities to anyone trying to model all these various processes, especially 
 graduate students.
 
     Regards,   Joe Preisig