125 - Dysplasia and Carcinoma Sequence Flashcards
Biological factors that define malignancy
1
2
3
– Cells with dysregulated growth (loss of cell cycle control)
– Invasive and metastatic potential
– Morbidity and mortality
Morphological features that define malignancy
1
2
– Demonstration of invasion or metastasis
– Aberrant cytomorphology and disordered architecture
Molecular/genetic features that define malignancy 1 2 3 4
– Inherited or acquired mutations
– Oncogenes, tumour suppressor genes, DNA repair genes
– Chromosomal gains/losses, translocations and aneuploidy
– Epigenetic changes (hyper/hypomethylation, miRNA) and altered gene expression
Example of a tumour suppressor gene involved in some breast cancers
BRCA1
Example of an anti-cancer therapy targeted to cells avoiding immune destruction
Immune-activating anti-CTLA4 mAb
Threat of pre-malignancies
Could become invasive
Intraepithelial neoplasia
Pre-malignant epithelium that hasn’t become invasive
Transformation
Change from a pre-malignant neoplasm into an invasive cancer
Cancer of epithelium
Carcinoma
Cancer of connective tissue
Sarcoma
When is a dysplasia classed as a carcinoma?
When it breaches basement membrane to invade underlying stroma
A cellular response to microenvironment
Metaplasia
Normal metaplasia
Cervical epithelial mucosa changes with hormonal cycle
Examples of pathological metaplasias
1
2
3
1) Barret oesophagus
2) Chronic atrophic gastritis leads to intestinal metaplasia
3) Chronic inflammation or smoking leads to squamous
metaplasia in lung bronchial epithelium
HPV viral oncogenes
E6, E7
Low-risk HPVs
– Low risk types (e.g. types 6 and 11)
• major cause of genital warts
• mild squamous dysplasia (CIN1)
High-risk HPVs
– High risk types (e.g. types 16 and 18)
• moderate to severe squamous dysplasia (CIN 2-3)
• major cause of squamous cell carcinoma
Aspect of HPV that can lead to invasive tumour
Genome integration into host genome