RT Book, Section A1 Ramkissoon, Lori A. A1 Montgomery, Nathan D. A2 Reisner, Howard M. SR Print(0) ID 1173767392 T1 Cancer and the Genome T2 Pathology: A Modern Case Study, 2e YR 2020 FD 2020 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN REISNERPATHOL LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1173767392 RD 2025/06/20 AB Each year, there are an estimated 18 million new cancers diagnosed worldwide with more than 9 million people succumbing to the disease.1 In the most basic terms, cancer is simply uncontrolled cell growth. However, the reality is that cancer represents a highly complex, dynamic process that manipulates normal cellular processes in order to maintain growth and survival advantages that are not subject to traditional regulation. Although cancer arises through multiple different mechanisms and manifests in a variety of forms, fundamentally it represents a disease of genetic alterations that result in characteristic histologic, radiologic, and clinical findings. In this chapter, we will discuss the role and impact of genomic alterations in cancer. However, before we can understand how genomes go awry in cancer, we must first review basic features of “normal” human genomes. The next section provides an introduction to genes and their expression. Those with an advanced background in genetics and molecular biology may be comfortable skipping ahead to “Mutations and Cancer.”