Chapter 21, Problem 1SQ

Which is likely to be a more common cancer in an adult: cancer of the epithelial tissue lining the inside of the throat or cancer of the smooth muscle of the intestines? Why?

Summary Introduction

To determine: The more common cancer in adults: the cancer of the epithelial tissue lining the inside of the throat or the cancer of the smooth muscle of the intestines.

Concept introduction: Cancer is the abnormal proliferation of the cells. Cancer cells are of two types: benign and malignant. Cancer occurs due to various reasons like over consumption of alcohol, smoking, deleterious mutations, chromosomal aberrations, and many more. Cancer occurs as a result of errors in the genes involved in cell cycle particularly cell division.

Answer to Problem 1SQ

Correct answer: Cancer is more common in the epithelial tissue lining of inside of the throat when compared to smooth muscles of intestine.

Explanation of Solution

Epithelial tissues are those that line the exterior of the organs and in this case the throat. The smooth muscles of the intestine help in the peristaltic movement. The epithelial tissue lining the inside of the throat is constantly renewed in order to protect the cells from invading pathogens. The smooth muscles of the intestinal cells do not undergo constant proliferation as compared to the epithelial tissue of the lining of the inside of the throat. As the epithelial cells should constantly proliferate, the chances of cell cycle errors are more common than the smooth muscles. Due to higher rate of proliferation of epithelial cells, replication errors will be higher than smooth muscles. Consequently, cancer is more common in the epithelial tissue. Also, these epithelial tissues of the throat are the first point of contact when a person smokes or consumes alcohol too much.