Cancer Flashcards
what us a tumour
any kind of mass forming lesion . May be neoplastic, hamartoatous or inflammatory(e.g. from allergy )
what is hamartomatous
normal tissue in an organ which is organised in and abnormal way
what is a neoplasm
autonomous growth of tissue which has escaped normal constraints of cell proliferation. May be benign or malignant
what is a cancer
malignant neoplasm
how to pathologically differentiate between benign and malignant neoplasm
Benign: clear demarcation, can move around and not attached to skin
Malignant: invades local tissue and is fixed
what are hamartomas
localised benign overgrowths of one or more mature cell types. But do not have cytological abnormalities(eg. increased mitosis or increase nucleus:cytoplasmic ratio)
heterotopias
normal tissue found in wrong place
Look at the table on the classification of neoplasms
look at the table on the classification of neoplasms
teratomas
A type of germ cell tumor that may contain several different types of tissue, such as hair, muscle, and bone.
differences in invasion between benign and malignant
if it has directly extended into adjacent connective tissue/blood vessels
metastasis between benign and malignant
all malignant tumours spread via blood vessels / lymph noded
differentiation
malignant cancerous tumours have larger nuclei, and higher nucleus:cytoplasmic ratio and more mitoses, nuclear pleomorphism) variability in nuclear size andshape
growth pattern
malignant tumours have less well defined architecture than the tissue they are derived from
by which routes do tumours spread
perineural direct lymphatic haematogenous transcoelomic
direct extension
stromal response to the tumour. includes fibroblastic proliferation (desmoplastic response), vascular prolif (angiogenesis) and immune response
haematogenous
blood vessels (normally veules and capillaries with thin walls)
lymphatic
pattern of spread is dictated by the normal lymphatic drainage of organ in qu
transcoelomic
via seeding of body cavities like pleural (intrathoracic cancer) and peritoneal cavity (for intra-abdominal cancer)
perineural
via nerves (low resistance pathway) liver cancers
how do you assess tumour spread
clinically, radiologically and pathologically
TNM
tumour (size/extent of local invasion nodes), metasteses
grade vs stage of cancer
grade= how differentiated the tumour is stage= how far is the tumour spread(TNM)
in terms of prognosis, stage is more imp than grade
Example of a mutation in the growth promoting gene - Ras
If there is a mutation in the group meeting chains such as the gene for the signalling protein Ras it becomes super active and produces cells that are too strongly stimulated by growth receptors
Her Elton
Breast cancer drug which blocks overactive receptor tyrosine Kinases ( RTKs)
Gleevec
Drug which blocks a mutant signalling kinase associated with chronic myelogenous leukaemia
