Pancreatic Cancer Investigation

We have been studying cell division and cancer cells in class. At the beginning of the investigation, we knew how cells divided and symptoms for evidence of cancer. We also knew the process of cell reproduction as well as the cell cycle. My goal for this investigation was to use my knowledge to determine which patients if any had cancer. The guiding question was “Which Patients Could Have Cancer”. This question was related to the information we had been studying, because we had been studying cancer cells and mutations in the cell cycle. Now we were asked to use that knowledge to determine which patients could have cancer.

In order to gather the data I needed to answer this question I conducted a procedure to follow during the investigation.
During the procedure I examined images of lung and pancreas tissue given by Mrs.Bales in a slide show. The procedure followed to download Mrs.Bales slideshow, observe the tissue samples, and compare to the other tissue samples. I chose this procedure because I believed it to be the best way to examine and list the differences in tissue samples to draw conclusions on which patients could have cancer. This procedure did help in gathering data and drawing conclusions, because it was organized and allowed me to have the ability to compare and analyze the data. I then analyzed the data I collected by comparing the data collected from each tissue sample to the normal tissue sample and drawing conclusions.

My claim is that Patient one has lung cancer, and Patient three has pancreatic cancer.
Figure one one the next page shows a image of a normal lung tissue sample. Figure two shows Patient one’s lung tissue sample. When comparing the two you can see the differences, figure one shows the tissue cells have one nucleus, there is good amount of cytoplasm, and all of the cells represent an average size. When looking at figure two there are multiple nucleus in one cell, not very much cytoplasm, and all cells are abnormal shapes. This was important to my investigation because it helped me draw conclusions to see which patients showed symptoms of cancer. Figure three shows an image of a normal pancreas tissue sample. Figure four shows a image of Patient four’s pancreas tissue sample. When comparing the two you can see the differences. Figure three has one nucleus per cell, a good amount of cytoplasm, and a average size in cells. When looking at figure four there are multiple nucleus in one cell, not very much cytoplasm, and all cells are an abnormal shape. This was important because it allowed me to see which patients showed cancer symptoms. This analysis indicates that patient one has lung cancer and patient four has pancreatic
cancer.

My evidence is based on scientific concepts. Such as both patient one and four tissue samples consisted of symptoms of cancer. As well as there was a significant difference in the appearances of the patients compared to the normal tissue images. Patient one and four have cells that are obviously abnormal which leads us to ask, why are they abnormal. When consulting with other members of my group during the investigation, we drew conclusions and went over the data collected to come to conclusions. My claim states that patients one and four have cancer.