carcinogenesis Flashcards
what is cancer?
disease characterized by uncontrolled cellular growth
what is transformation?
process of converting a normal cell into a cell having attributes of a cancer cell
what is neoplasia?
growth of new tissue (benign)
what is neoplasm/tumor?
abnormal grwoth of tissue forming a mass
what are the attributes of normal cells vs cancer cells regarding cell proliferation, number of cell devisions, contact inhibition, dependency on growth factors, tumor formation?
normal cell: controlled cell proliferation, 50 cell cycles, monolayer culture (contact inhibition), dependency on grwoth factors, no tumor formation
cancer cell: uncontrolled cell proliferation, immortality, multilayer culture (no contact inhibition), no dependency on growth factors, tumorigenic
what is the difference between begin and malignant tumors?
benign: local growth without invading adjacent tissue, often harmless, complications possible
malignant tumors: infiltration of nearby tissue, metastases, cachexia, obstruction
what leads to complications in benign tumors?
mass effect, hormone overproduction, malignant transformation
what are the major classifications of malignant tumors?
epithelial tissue, non-epithelial tissue, other tumors
what tumors are in epithelial tissue?
carcinoma
what tumors are in non epithelial tissue?
sarcoma, leukemia, lymphoma, neuroectodermal tumors
which system is used for the stagingof cancer and what does it stand for?
TNM: Tumor, Nodes, Metastases
what is grading of tumors used for?
determination of cell anaplasia, degree of tumor aggressivness, pathology, nucleus to cytoplasm ratio, mitotic activity, atypical mitoses
what is the aim of staging?
help to plan treatment and give an indication of prognosis
what are the grading categories?
GX: cannot be assessed
G1: well differentiated
G2: moderately differentiated
G3: poorly differentiated
G4: undifferentiated (high grade= anaplastic)
what is the relationship between tumor grade and prognosis?
High grade = cell grow more quickly, metastasis more frequently, less responsive to treatment –> poor prognosis