Definitions Flashcards
Malignant neoplasm
An abnormal growth of cells that persist after the initial stimulus is removed
AND
invades surrounding tissue with potential to spread to distant sites
Tumour
Any clinically detectable lump or swelling
e.g. A neoplasm
Cancer
Any malignant neoplasm
Metastasis
A malignant neoplasm that has spread from its original site to a new contiguous (share boarder) site
Dysplasia
A pre-neoplasticism alteration in which cells show disordered tissue organisation (reversible so not neoplastic)
Monoclonal
A group of cells that originate from a single founding cell
Invade
The ability of cells to break through the basement membrane and spread
Micrometastasis
Surviving microscopic deposits of malignant cells that fail to grow
Tumour dominancey
Disease free (apparently) person who harbours many micrometastases
Carcinogenesis
A cause of cancer
Two hit hypothesis
Cancer is a result of accumulated mutations to a cells DNA
Proto-oncogenes
A normal gene that can become an oncogene due to mutations or increased expression
-only one allele needed to be mutated to cause neoplasia
Tumour suppressor genes
Genes that encode proteins that suppress growth and therefore suppress cancer
-both alleles must be altered to cause neoplasia
Staging
The extent of spread of tumour
T: primary tumour
N: regional lymph node involvement
M: metastasis
Grading
Based on the degree of differentiation of tumour cells
Judges the extent to which tumour cells resemble or fail to resemble their normal counterparts
