The root cause of cancer is damage to cellular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which can be caused by many factors, or carcinogens. What factors can be carcinogenic? Select all that apply.

a. age

b. viruses

c. dietary substances

d. gender

e. environmental factors

e, c b,

Explanation:

Substances that causes cancer are said to be carcinogenic. The are refereed to as Carcinogens. The process of cancer development on human as a result of their damaging effects is called Carcinogenesis. Other carcinogens apart from those listed above are asbestos, benzene, arsenic, tar from tobacco smoke etc.

Basically, most carcinogens do not have a direct effect on the DNA, but rather cause uncontrolled division and growth of the cells, which alters the DNA structure and processes of expression of protein sequence of the cells of the organisms.

The carcinogenic substances can both be natural and synthetic although they are mostly synthetic. Three Categories exist based on their original sources:

Physical Carcinogens - Ionizing radiations, Ultraviolet radiations from radioactive materials. These are not soluble in water.

Chemical carcinogens - Molecular substances that have been synthesized, as listed above

Oncogenic - these are biological materials e. g Viruses