cancer pathophysiology Flashcards
which cancer is the leading cause of death in males and females?
male: prostate
female: breast
what is tumour?
it can be either benign or malignant.
an autonomous growth, exceeds that of normal tissue, persists after cessation of stimuli that initiated it.
what is the difference between benign and malignant in terms of histology differentiation?
benign: well differentiated
- typical tissue of origin
- few mitoses
malignant:
- anaplastic with abnormal cell size and shape
- many mitoses
what is the growth rate of a benign tumour and a malignant tumour
benign: slow
malignant: fast
what is the difference between benign and malignant re: localisation/ metastases?
benign: strictly local
- cohesive growth
- capsule and basement membrane not breached.
-no metastases
malignant:
- infiltrative, frequent
- poorly cohesive
- capsule and basement membrance breached
-metastases
is there tumour necrosis in benign and malignant?
benign: no
malignant: yes
can there be recurrent of tumour after treatment?
b: rare
m: common
prognosis for tumour:
b: good unless critical
m: poor if untreated
what are the 4 stages of tumour development and growth?
- transformation
- growth of transformed cell
- invasion of tumour cells into surrounding tissues
- metastasis of tumour cells to distant sites
Explain the transformation process for benign and malignant
b: mostly well differentiated, resemble cell from which they came from
1) m: anaplasia
nuclear and cellular pleomorphism
-size
- shape
2) abnormal nuclear morphology:
-hyperchromasia
- high nuclear cystoplasmic ratio
- chromatin clumping
- prominent nucleoli
3) loss of polarity
- abundant mitoses
explain the growth of transformed cells process
- the less differentiated it is, the faster it grows.
- growth may be influenced by host factors.
- growth is dependent on the ability of the tumour to develop a blood supply.
well differentiated neoplasm
resembles mature cells of origin
poorly differentiated neoplasm
composed of primitive cells with little differentiation
explain the local invasion process of tumour cells.
benign has capsule, cant infiltrate.
malignant- no capsule, freely invade.
detachment” loosening of the tumour cells
attachment to matrix components
degradation of matrix components
migration of tumour cells.
3 unequivocal signs of malignancy ( 3 sites)
1) lymphatic
2) hematogenous - blood
3) seeding of body cavities
what is T1N0M0 in terms of TNM staging?
small, no spread to regional lymph nodes, no metastasis, stage 1
what is T 4N1M1 in terms of TNM staging?
large, withspread to regional lymph nodes and other organs. stage 4.
what are the predisposing factors to cancer?
1) age: childhood cancers OR elderly, old people have greater propensity to develop neoplasm from lack of effective control mechanism
2) body mass, Obesity
3) chronic inflammation
4) precancerous condition:eg. chronic ulcerative colitis, atrophic gastritis of pernicious anemia
leukoplakia of mucous membranes.
what are the 4 environmental causes of cancer
- chemicals
- UV light/ionising radiation
- Viral infections
- Smoking and alcohol abuse
what is the genetic cause of cancer?
familial cancer syndromes-
- early age onset,
- multiple/ bilateral tumours
- 2 or more primary relatives with cancer.
Examples of UV cancer
basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
malignant melanoma
examples of ionising radiation
hematopoietic and thyroid tumours in fall out victims
Basal cell carcinoma in therapeutic radiation.
Which 5 virus cause cancer?
HPV
EBV
HBP- hep B virus
HTLV1- human t lymphotrophic virus 1
KSHV-karposi sarcoma associated herpes virus
what does HPV cause?
cervix squamous cell cancer
