Clinical Cancer 1 Flashcards
What is Cancer?
- a disease of uncontrolled cell proliferation with w/ invasion of adjacent & distant tissues
- progressively impairs normal organ function
- is many diseases (>100 distinct types)
What are the 4 broad types of cancer?
1) sarcomas: bone, connective tissue
2) carcinomas: epithelial tissues kidney, liver pancreas, breast
3) lymphomas: lymph node, thyroid, spleen
4) leukemias: blood
Why is cancer important?
- 1 in 3 people develop cancer
- cancer spending accounts for a lot of disease based health expenditures
- second leading cause of death
Pancreatic cancer incidence vs death rate?
- pancreatic cancer incidence= its death rate; this means that if you get pancreas cancer you will probably die
- is because hard to catch early, typically when get diagnosed its too late to do anything
What is premolecular definition of Neoplasm?
-an abnormal mass of tissue, proliferation exceeds and is unrelated to that of the normal tissue, & persists in same excessive manner after cessation of the stimuli which evoked the change
What is modern era definition of Neoplasm?
-a disorder of cell growth that is triggered by a series of acquired mutations affecting a single cell & its clonal progeny
Hypertrophy
-increase cell mass by increasing cell number w/o increasing size
Hyperplasia
- increase cell mass by increasing the number of cells
- still posses normal growth control mechanisms
Metaplasia
reversible change in which one differentiated cell type is replaced by another cell type, in response to chronic irritation
Atrophy?
cell adaptation
- when cell shrinks in response to non-lethal stimulus
- usually shrinkage of organs as well
Atypical Hyperplasia
- precancerous cell changes that can (do not always) become malignant
- `cells have abnormal appearance
Dysplasia
- further increase (from atypical hyperplasia) in abnormal cell appearance and organization
- due to faulty maturation of cells
In Situ Carcinomas
- very abnormal appearing cells which have not acquired the ability to invade the local barriers like the basement membrane
- pre-malignant/cancerous condition, not obligated to progress to malignancy
- just for carcinomas (epithelium) not sarcomas
Carcinoma in situ in uterus, how does it look?
- see that the epithelial is much thicker (supposed to be single cell, now multi-layered)
- but basement membrane is intact, cancer can’t metastasize
Carcinoma in situ in uterus, malignant?
- epithelia has no blood vessels, cancer cells would need to break through membrane to access blood/lymph to metastasize or invade adjacent tissue
- in situ this hasn’t happened; so can’t spread there technically not malignant BUT treat as malignant since at any time this can become invasive
How treat carcinoma in situ?
- 30% in situ cells become invasive, so treat everything as malignant
- means over treat 7/10 people, but don’t want to risk invasive cancer
Neoplasia
an abnormal mass of tissue (tumor) that continues to grow because it has lost its responsiveness to normal growth control mechanisms
When does neoplasia occur?
- usually one of the later occurrences after atypical hyperplasia, dysplasia and cancer in situ.
- but many roadways to cancer, not all the same, but it is a later stage
Neoplasia composition?
- neoplasia= the abnormal mass of tissue (tumor) within it have:
1) parenchymal tissue
2) reactive stromal tissue
Parenchymal Tissue
- the transformed malignant cells in a tumor
- they determine the nomenclature, classification, &biologic behavior of the cancer
Reactive Stromal Tissue
- non-neoplastic supportive connective tissue of the tumor
- has blood/lymphatic vessels & cells of the immune system
- determines tumor structure, a lot= harder tumor; less= softer tumor
Nomenclature of benign vs malignant tumor?
-benign: "oma" Fibroma -malignant: "sarcoma" Fibrosarcoma -EXCEPT lymphoma & melanoma -prefeix= location of tumor
What types of cells are most tumors comprised of?
- most common: 1 parenchymal, neoplastic cell type, with benign and malignant counter parts
Tumors with more than 1 neoplastic cell types?
- yes, less common but happens in 2 ways:
1) more than 1 neoplastic parenchymal cell type derived form SAME germ layer
2) derived from DIFFERENT germ layer
what does teratogenous mean?
- when have more than 1 neoplastic parenchymal cell type derived form derived from DIFFERENT germ layers?
- is a teratoma
where are teratomas and what do they do?
- usually benign
- found in gonads (ovaries/ testes) usually; can also be found in midline
- can form any type of tissue ( skin, brain, lungs, etc)
benign neoplasias?
- remain localized
- don’t have ability to invade local tissues/ spread to distant sites
- can usually be removed w/o significant harm to patient
- may cause significant morbidity if in dangerous location
malignant neoplasias?
- called cancers
- invade adjacent tissues and/or organs
- may metastasize [spread] to distant sites
- cells which enter the circulation, travel and lodge in distant sites and grow into tumors (metastasis), cause 90% of all cancer deaths.
what does it mean to say cancer cells metastasize? risk of metastasizing?
- cells which enter circulation, travel & lodge in distant sites and grow into tumors
- cause 90% of all cancer deaths.
- extremely fast progression to death when have extensive metastasis
How does cancer spread? 3 main pathways
1) Direct seeding of cancer cells in body cavities & surfaces
2) Lymphatic spread
3) Hematogenous spread
How do carcinomas usually spread? Sarcomas?
Carcinomas: by lymph (lymphatics)
Sarcomas: blood (hematogonis)
differentiation/ anaplasia in benign tumors?
- high degree of differnetiaion, low anaplasia
- usually composed of differentiated cells, often look like origin tissue
differentiation/anaplasia in malignant tumors?
- high degree of anaplasia, cells are not well differentiated
- can look similar or completely different to tissue of origin
- typically more anaplasia= worse diagnosis
rate of growth in benign tumors ?
- slow rate of growth,
- can come to a standstill or regress
- mitotic figures (hyperchromatism) is rare
rate of growth in malignant tumors?
- erratic; can be slow or rapid
- mitotic figures (hyperchromatism) often numerous & abnormal