In the UK in 2016, there were 525 048 deaths. Cancer caused 30.4% of all deaths. Throat cancer caused 5% of all deaths from cancer.

Calculate the mean number of people who died of throat cancer per month in 2016.

Show your working.

Answer ______________ people per month

Increased methylation of the promoter region of a tumour suppressor gene causes one type of human throat cancer.

In this type of throat cancer, cancer cells are able to pass on the increased methylation to daughter cells. The methylation is caused by an enzyme called DNMT.

Scientists have found that a chemical in green tea, called EGCG, is a competitive inhibitor of DNMT. EGCG enables daughter cells to produce messenger RNA (mRNA) from the tumour suppressor gene.

Suggest how EGCG allows the production of mRNA in daughter cells.

The scientists investigated the effect of different amounts of EGCG on the growth rate of the throat cancer cells grown in vitro. Their results are shown in Figure 2.

A reporter who reviewed all of this work concluded that drinking green tea could be a cure for cancer.

Suggest three reasons why his conclusion might not be valid.

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