cancer pathophysiology

Question 1

which cancer is the leading cause of death in males and females?

Answer 1

male: prostate
female: breast

Question 2

what is tumour?

Answer 2

it can be either benign or malignant.
an autonomous growth, exceeds that of normal tissue, persists after cessation of stimuli that initiated it.

Question 3

what is the difference between benign and malignant in terms of histology differentiation?

Answer 3

benign: well differentiated
- typical tissue of origin
- few mitoses

malignant:
- anaplastic with abnormal cell size and shape
- many mitoses

Question 4

what is the growth rate of a benign tumour and a malignant tumour

Answer 4

benign: slow
malignant: fast

Question 5

what is the difference between benign and malignant re: localisation/ metastases?

Answer 5

benign: strictly local
- cohesive growth
- capsule and basement membrane not breached.
-no metastases

malignant:
- infiltrative, frequent
- poorly cohesive
- capsule and basement membrance breached
-metastases

Question 6

is there tumour necrosis in benign and malignant?

Answer 6

benign: no
malignant: yes

Question 7

can there be recurrent of tumour after treatment?

Answer 7

b: rare
m: common

Question 8

prognosis for tumour:

Answer 8

b: good unless critical
m: poor if untreated

Question 9

what are the 4 stages of tumour development and growth?

Answer 9

1. transformation
2. growth of transformed cell
3. invasion of tumour cells into surrounding tissues
4. metastasis of tumour cells to distant sites

Question 10

Explain the transformation process for benign and malignant

Answer 10

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

Question 11

explain the growth of transformed cells process

Answer 11

• 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.

Question 12

well differentiated neoplasm

Answer 12

resembles mature cells of origin

Question 13

poorly differentiated neoplasm

Answer 13

composed of primitive cells with little differentiation

Question 14

explain the local invasion process of tumour cells.

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

3 unequivocal signs of malignancy ( 3 sites)

Answer 15

1) lymphatic
2) hematogenous - blood
3) seeding of body cavities

Question 16

what is T1N0M0 in terms of TNM staging?

Answer 16

small, no spread to regional lymph nodes, no metastasis, stage 1

Question 17

what is T 4N1M1 in terms of TNM staging?

Answer 17

large, withspread to regional lymph nodes and other organs. stage 4.

Question 18

what are the predisposing factors to cancer?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

what are the 4 environmental causes of cancer

Answer 19

1. chemicals
2. UV light/ionising radiation
3. Viral infections
4. Smoking and alcohol abuse

Question 20

what is the genetic cause of cancer?

Answer 20

familial cancer syndromes-
- early age onset,
- multiple/ bilateral tumours
- 2 or more primary relatives with cancer.

Question 21

Examples of UV cancer

Answer 21

basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
malignant melanoma

Question 22

examples of ionising radiation

Answer 22

hematopoietic and thyroid tumours in fall out victims

Basal cell carcinoma in therapeutic radiation.

Question 23

Which 5 virus cause cancer?

Answer 23

HPV
EBV
HBP- hep B virus
HTLV1- human t lymphotrophic virus 1
KSHV-karposi sarcoma associated herpes virus

Question 24

what does HPV cause?

Answer 24

cervix squamous cell cancer

Question 25

what does EBV cause:

Answer 25

burkitt lymphoma, nasopharyngeal lymphoma

Question 26

what does HBV cause

Answer 26

hepatocellular cancer

Question 27

what does htlv1 cause

Answer 27

T cell malignancy- leuukemia

Question 28

what does kshv cause

Answer 28

kaposi sarcoma

Question 29

what is dysplasia

Answer 29

pre cancer, reversible