CA1: Non-neoplastic Disturbances of Growth Flashcards
Define atrophy
A wasting or decrease in size of a body organ, tissue, or part owing to disease, injury, or lack of use
Give an example of physiological atrophy (2)
- Thyroglossal cyst
- Muscular atrophy after stopping weight training
Give some examples of pathological atrophy (5)
- Cardiac
- Malnutrition
- Hair follicles
- Ageing in general
- Alzheimer’s Disease
Define hyperplasia
Increase in cell number but not in cell size
Where does hyperplasia occur?
Hyperplasia occurs in organs which have proliferative capacity and stem cells
Give an example of physiological hyperplasia
Endometrium
The lining of the uterus, endometrium, becomes unusually thick because of hyperplasia
Give an example of pathological hyperplasia (2)
- Lymph node reaction to viral infection
- Prostate increases with age
What are some complications of hyperplasia? (3)
- Obstruction
- Infarction
- Sometimes over-secretion of hormone
What is hypertrophy?
Increase in size of organ due to increase in cell size
Give an example of pathological hypertrophy
Cardiomyopathy
Heart gets bigger
What are some complications of hypertrophy?
Obstruction and infarction
What is metaplasia?
Change from, one fully mature tissue type to another fully mature tissue type
Give an example of a condition where you go from Squamous to glandular
Barrett’s oesophagus
Give an example of a condition where you go from Glandular to Squamous
The bronchi
What is dysplasia?
Dysplasia is a broad term that refers to the abnormal development of cells within tissues or organs
During dysplasia cells become atypical, what are some of these atypical features? (3)
- Pleomorphic (different shapes)
- Increased mitosis
- Disorganised
If a condition ends in adenoma what does this mean?
Benign glandular tumour
If a condition ends in adenocarcinoma what does this mean?
Malignant glandular tumour
Where do tumours generally arise?
Generally areas of high proliferation
the epithelia
Explain the pathogenesis of a cancer using smoking as an example
- Smoker
- Irritation of bronchi
- Metaplasia to Squamous epithelium
- Continued smoking
- DNA changes in cells
- Dysplasia
- Further DNA changes
- Invasive Cance
Genes in their normal state are called?
Proto-oncogenes
Genes in their abnormal state are called?
Oncogene
What is RAS?
- A GTPase protein
- Mutated in 1 in 4 cancers
What is a tumour suppressor gene
This is a gene which by switching off, by mutation or another mechanism, makes cancer more likely
