TOXICOGENOMICS AND ITS APPLICATION IN CANCER PATHOGENESIS

Toxicology, the study of poisons, focuses on substances and treatments that cause adverse effects in living things. A critical part of this study is the characterization of the adverse effects at the level of the organism, the tissue, the cell, and the molecular makeup of the cell. Thus, Toxicology traditionally has focused on phenotypic changes in an organism that result from exposure to chemical, physical, or biologic agents. Such changes range from reversible effects, such as transient skin reactions, to chronic diseases, such as cancer, to the extreme end point of death. Typical whole-animal toxicology studies may range from single-dose acute to chronic lifetime exposures, and they include assessments of end points such as clinical signs of toxicity, body and organ weight changes, clinical chemistry, and histopathologic responses.