cancer Flashcards
- What is a tumour?
- What are the three types of tumour?
Any kind of mass forming lesion
May be neoplastic, hamartomatous or inflammatory
- Give an example of a non-neoplastic tumour?
Nasal polyps (nothing to do with cancer → they are inflammatory)
- Define a Neoplasm
- What are the 2 types of Neoplasm?
Autonomous growth of tissue which have escaped normal constraints of cell proliferation
Benign - remain localised Malignant - invade locally and/or spread to distant sites (metastasis)
- What is cancer?
- What is a Fibroadenoma?
Malignant neoplasms
Common benign breast tumours made up of both glandular tissue and connective tissue
- Why might some malignant tumours only rarely cause death?
- Why do some benign tumours cause death?
They have a very low chance of metastasis
Usually because of their location e.g. brain
- What are Hamartomas?
Localised benign overgrowths of one of more mature cell types e.g. in the lung
Represent architectural rather than cytological abnormalities e.g. lung hamartomas are composed of cartilage and bronchial tissue
- Define Heterotopia
These are normal tissue being found in parts of the body where they are not normally present
e.g. pancreas in the wall of the large intestine
- What is the primary description of a neoplasm based on?
- What is the secondary description of a neoplasm based on?
Cell origin
whether it is malignant or benign
- What does the ‘chondra’ stem mean?
- What does the suffix ‘sarcoma’ refer to?
Derived from cartilage
malignant (soft tissue) tumour
- What does the suffix ‘sarcoma’ refer to?
- What does the suffix ‘oma’ refer to?
malignant (soft tissue) tumour
Benign tumour
- What is the name for a glandular benign tumour?
- What is an adenocarcinoma?
- Examples of where this would be?
Adenoma
malignant glandular tumour
breast, pancreas, thyroid, colon
- What are teratomas?
Tumours derived from germ cells and can contain tissue derived from all 3 germ cell layers
May contain mature/immature tissue and even cancers
- What does invasion mean?
Means direct extension into the adjacent connective tissue and/or other structures
This is what distinguishes dysplasia / carcinoma in situ from cancer
- What is dysplasia?
Presence of abnormal cells within a tissue or organ
- What does differentiation mean in relation to tumours?
- What organelle tends to be larger in tumour cells and why is it larger?
How much the cells of the tumour resemble cells of tissue it is derived from
Nuclei → so that more mitosis can occur than the tissue the tumour was originally derived from
- Define nuclear pleomorphism
Variability in nuclear size and shape
- What does growth pattern in tumour cells refer to?
How much the architecture of the tumour resembles the architecture of the tissue it is derived from
Tumours have less well defined architecture than the tissue they are derived from
- What are the 4 differences between benign and malignant neoplasms?
Invasion
Metastasis Differentiation Growth pattern
4 differences between normal and cancerous cell
larger and variably shaped nuclei- nuclear pleomorphism (higher nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio) loss of function variably shaped and sized cells disorganised arrangement many dividing cells abnormal mitoses eg tripolar
- List routes by which tumours spread
Direct extension
Haematogenous - bloodstream Lymphatic Transcoelomic- seeding of body cavities Perineural
- What type of spread is associated with a stromal response? (give examples)
Direct extension
stromal responses eg e.g. fibroblastic proliferation (desmoplastic) and vascuclar proliferation (angiogenesis) and an immune response
- By what route do most sarcomas spread?
Haematogenous → blood vessels usually invaded are the venules and capillaries due to thinner walls
- Why is it easier for cancers to spread through capillaries and veules than arteries?
- By what route do most epithelial cancers metastasise first?
They have thinner walls
Via the lymphatic to lymph nodes and beyond
- What are the most common examples of transcoelomic spread?
- How do our tumours spread via the perineural route?
Pleural cavities (intrathoracic cancers)
Peritoneal cavities (intra-abdominal cancers)
Via nerves
