Cancer Flashcards
What is neoplasia?
New tissue growth that continues despite the absence of stimulus
What is metaplasia?
The replacement of one type of cell with another type
What is dysplasia?
Disordered growth
What is carcinoma in situ?
When dysplasia involves the full thickness of the epithelium, but does not penetrate the basement membrane.
What is an invasive tumour?
When tumour cells breach the basement membrane
What is the difference between dysplasia and neoplasia?
Dysplasia: controlled abnormal growth
Does not always lead to neoplasia
What is cancer?
Malignant tumours that have the potential to spread
What is differentiation?
The appearance of cells compared to normal cells of the same tissue
What is anaplasia?
A poorly differentiated tumour cell that does not function like normal tissue and has different morphology to normal tissue.
What are the four features of anaplastic cells?
Pleomorphic
Hyperchromatic
Loss of polarity
Mitoses
What is pleomorphy?
Continual variation in size, shape, and number
What is hypertrophy?
Increase in size of a cell
What is hyperplasia?
Increase in the number of cells
What happens when a cell loses polarity?
Cells are no longer anchored to the basement membrane, which causes disordered growth
What is the significance of mitosis in anaplastic cells?
An abnormal number of cells undergo mitosis
What are the ways of classifying tumours?
Aetiology
Organ of origin
Benign/malignant
Tissue/cell of origin
What is a benign tumour?
A tumour that does not invade or spread to other tissues
What are the features of benign tumours?
Do not invade Do not metastasise Histologically similar to the parent cell Low growth rate with few mitotic cells Form polyps in hollow organs
What are malignant tumours?
Tumours that are invasive and grow irregularly into the surrounding tissue
What are the features of malignant tumours?
Poorly confined
Dissimilar to parent cell
Have central necrosis and have ulcerated surfaces
What is necrosis?
Death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue due to disease
Why is classification by cell of origin not typically used?
It is difficult to identify which cell exactly is the cell of origin
What is a carcinoma?
epithelial tissue
What is a sarcoma?
connective tissue
What is the classification of a benign tumour?
OMA suffix
What is a high-grade tumour?
Poorly differentiated and aggressive tumours
What is metastasis?
The development of secondary malignant growths at a distance from the primary site of cancer
What is T in cancer scaling?
Tumour size, where 0 = carcinoma in situ, then 1-4
What is N in cancer scaling?
How many regional lymph nodes are involved
What is M in cancer scaling?
How many distant metastases exist
What environmental factors cause cancer?
Smoking Diet and obesity Exposure to carcinogens Reproductive history Infectious agents (e.g. HPV)
How does the incidence of cancer vary?
Geography
Age
Race
Genetics
