Assignment:
Select one of the following vulnerabilities or another that you have heard about before. Some examples are:
- Organ transplant
- Disease of the immune system
- A form of cancer
Answer the following in your description:
How are problems detected at the microbial level?
How does it interact with the immune system?
How has the information from this week changed the way you previously thought about the scenario? )
Prompt 1: Melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. It occurs when the pigment producing cells that give color to the skin become cancerous. It unfortunately is quite common at more than 200,000 cases in the US a year. A biopsy on the possible area will be performed such as shave (tangential), punch, optical, excisional or incisional biopsy. The cells of the sample will then be examined and tests may be performed to confirm the diagnosis. These tests include immunohistochemistry, fluorescence in sit hybridization, and gene expression profiling. These tests can show the seriousness of the disease including the motorícele rate which is how fast the cells are actively dividing. Gene changes are also examined including a mutation in the BRAF gene which is quite common in cases. Melanoma is one of the most immunogenic tumors. Its interaction with the immune system is still being investigated. The disease itself can prevent the detection and attacks from the immune system.
Although T cells have been shown to interact with melanoma cells. The more I learn about disease and their effects on the immune system. The more I am fascinated with how our body really works. I always knew that the diseases we have been discussing were harmful, but the way that they can either trick or hide from our natural immune system is fascinating although terrifying. The adaptations that they can do to become more harmful at such a quick rate is a big investigation that is making leaps and bounds each day.
Prompt 2: I have heard about the vulnerability of cancer, specifically leukemia, from my dad that had the disease. Leukemia is detected microbly through mutations that cause blood cancer. Different mutations, one being TET2, mutates the hematopoietic which "gives rise to other blood cells" (Wood, 2022). The mutation gives the stem cells a competitive advantage which causes the infected cells to make up a huge percentage of the blood and take over healthy white blood cells (Wood, 2022). The cancer runs rancid and infects the blood. Leukemia interacts with the immune system by affecting the cells that are responsible for fighting infection. They affected specifically the WBCs which are an essential part of the immune function.
The leukemia affects the WBCs by causing the bone marrow to produce an abnormal amount making it to where they can not fight off infections as they should (MediLexicon, 2022). This puts the body at high risk for developing severe infections which the immune system can now not fight off. This week we are learning about immunodeficiency, immunobiology, immunotherapy, and cancer. This information has changed the way I had previously thought about cancer, specifically leukemia, by explaining how complicated the disease is. Learning of the immunodeficiency caused by leukemia has shown me how escalated the scenario can get as the immune system is no longer defensive against the disease which can cause more issues and which makes the cancer even more fatal.