1. Recognize potential issues and major topics in the case. What is this case about? Underline terms or phrases that seem to be important to understanding this case. Then list 3–4 biology related topics or issues in the case.

2. What specific questions do you have about these topics? By yourself, or better yet, in a group, make a list of what you already know that is related to the case in the the “What Do I Know?” column. List questions you would like to learn more about in “What Do I Need to Know?” column.

3. What kinds of references or resources would help you answer or explore these questions? Identify two different resources and explain what information each resource is likely to give that will help you answer the question(s). Choose specific resources.

“I’m so relieved,” Ann said as she plopped down in the coffee shop booth where her friend Delores was reading e-mail on her laptop.

“Oh Ann!? What did the doctor say?” Delores asked.

“Well, I do have skin cancer, but it’s not melanoma. It’s basal cell something. Anyway, it’s very common and easy to treat,” Ann reassured her.

“Is it genetic?” Delores asked, “Or does it have something to do with that nice tan you showed off during your teens and twenties?”

“Well no one else in the family has had skin cancer.” Grimacing, Ann added,”It’s more likely I’m paying for my tan.”

After Ann left, Delores searched for “basal cell cancer” on the Web. She wondered how her friend ended up with skin cancer. She found a 2004 paper by Athar and colleagues that explored BCC (basal cell carcinoma) and the effect of UV radiation. BCC, the most common kind of cancer, was linked to problems with the hedgehog signaling pathway. Exposure to UV radiation was one way to impact the pathway.

“More questions than answers,” Delores sighed. She looked up “hedgehog signaling pathway” in Wikipedia. She found that this pathway controls cell division and is important in early development. The pathway was first discovered in fruit flies with a mutation that made them shorter and especially bristly. The researcher thought the fly larvae looked like hedgehogs.

Delores returned to the Athar article. The researchers divided mice into two groups and then exposed them to UV radiation. One group was given a drug called cyclopamine, a known antagonist to the hedgehog pathway, in their drinking water, and the other group got plain water. The mice that got the cyclopamine had many fewer BCCs at the end of the experiment.

“I wonder if they will give Ann cyclopamine for her BCC?” Delores thought as she closed her laptop.