Cancer

Question 1

What is cancer?

Answer 1

Malignant neoplasia

Question 2

What is a tumour?

Answer 2

Any kind of mass (lump/bump) forming lesion; may be NEOPLASTIC (cancer-related), Hamartomas or inflammatory

Question 3

What are hamartomas?

Answer 3

localised benign overgrowths of one or more mature cell types such as lung.
(normal tissue just arranged abnormally)

Question 4

Are hamartomas cytological?

Answer 4

no, just an architectural abnormality

Question 5

Inflammatory tumours involve?

Answer 5

Nasal polyps (part of allergy)
swollen bits of mucus

Question 6

What is a neoplasm?

Answer 6

Autonomous growth of tissue which have escaped natural constraints on cell proliferation e.g. lung cancer
can be benign or malignant?

Question 7

What are the differences between benign and malignant cancers?

Answer 7

Benign: remains localised BUT can kill if the location is prime e.g. BRAIN as it may press on vital structures
Malignant: invades locally and/or spreads to distant sites BUT less likely to cause death? bc don’t always metastasis(spread)

Question 8

What are heterotopias?

Answer 8

normal tissue found in parts of the body where they are not normally present such as pancreas in the wall of small intestine instead of retroperitoneum.

Question 9

How do you classify Neoplasms?

Answer 9

1. Where does the cell originate from? e.g. chondro stem in chondromas/chondrosarcomas - derived from cartilage
2. Is it benign or malignant?
   if benign then suffix oma used ( but some exceptions e.g. lymphoma is malignant)
   malignant soft tissue then suffix sarcoma used
   epithelial cells = carcinomas

Question 10

Examples of epithelial neoplasms

Answer 10

e.g. squamous:
benign = squamous epithelioma or papilloma
malignant = squamous cell carcinoma
- skin, oesophagus, cervix
Glandular: B= adenoma
M=adenocarcinoma
-breast, colon, pancreas, thyroid
Transitional:
B= transitional papilloma
M= transitional cell carcinoma
-Bladder

Question 11

Example of connective tissue neoplasms

Answer 11

smooth muscle e.g. uterus, colon
B=leiomyoma
M=leiomyosarcoma
Bone e.g. arm, leg 
b= osteoma
m=osteosarcoma (osteogenic sarcoma)

Question 12

Examples of haematological neoplasms

Answer 12

Lymphocytes:
B = rare
M = Lymphoma 
-lymph nodes, stomach
Bone marrow:
B = rare
M= Leukaemia 
-acute lymphoblastic leuk..
-chronic myeloid leuk..

Question 13

What are teratomas?

Answer 13

tumours derived from germ cells and can contain tissue derived from all 3 germ cell layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm).
may contain mature tissue or immature tissue and even cancers. may contain hair

Question 14

Oma malignant tumours?

Answer 14

lymphoma
melanoma
hepatoma but better to call liver cell cancer
teratoma ( not always malignant)