disorders of growth

Question 1

medical name for ‘new growth’

Answer 1

neoplasm

Question 2

two components of tumours?

Answer 2

parenchyma and stroma

Question 3

define parenchyma;

Answer 3

proliferating neoplastic cells

Question 4

define stroma;

Answer 4

a supportive network of connective tissue and blood vessels

Question 5

describe a benign tumour

Answer 5

localised lesion that grows by expansion, unable to metastasize, innocent behaviour

Question 6

how does a malignant tumour grow?

Answer 6

by invasion and destruction of local tissues. it has an aggressive behaviour, with capacity to metastasize and spread to other body parts

Question 7

how does a malignant tumour spread locally?

Answer 7

direct invasion

Question 8

what is meant by ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ tumours?

Answer 8

primary - original malignant tumour

secondary - ‘offspring’ of the malignant tumour - when it has spread to other parts of the body

Question 9

routes of metastasis? (how does the cancer spread)

Answer 9

lymphatics, blood, body cavities

Question 10

describe metastasis of lymphatic system

Answer 10

tumour directly invades the lymph vessels; tumour emboli break off and are carried to the lymph nodes where they grow and can form secondary tumours

Question 11

how does metastasis occur within the blood?

Answer 11

tumour invades blood vessels; blood clot and embolus may form and enter the blood stream, potentially blocking small blood vessels and causing infarcts.

Question 12

how are tumour emboli in the blood filtered out?

Answer 12

by capillary beds e.g. liver and lungs

Question 13

describe metastasis via body cavities?

Answer 13

tumour penetrates the wall of a cavity (usually peritoneal), where the cells then metastasize and spread through the folds of the peritoneum

Question 14

name examples of benign epithelial tumours?

Answer 14

suffix -oma. adenoma, papilloma, cystadenoma, polyp

Question 15

describe ‘adenoma’

Answer 15

benign epithelial tumour arising in glands or forming glandular patterns

Question 16

describe ‘papilloma’

Answer 16

benign epithelial tumour forming finger like projections

Question 17

describe ‘cystadenoma’

Answer 17

an adenoma producing cystic masses e.g. in the ovaries

Question 18

what is a polyp?

Answer 18

a mass attached to a surface, may be a neoplasm

Question 19

types of malignant tumours?

Answer 19

carcinoma and sarcoma

Question 20

describe ‘carcinoma’ tumour?

Answer 20

malignant tumour of epithelial tissue

Question 21

describe ‘sarcoma’

Answer 21

malignant tumour of stromal tissue

Question 22

what are mesenchymal tumours?

Answer 22

mesenchymal cells are able to develop into the tissues of the lymphatic and circulatory systems. named with the suffix -oma if benign, and -sarcoma if malignant

Question 23

what is leukaemia?

Answer 23

malignant cancer; neoplastic proliferation of haematopoietic stem cells that spill into the bloodstream

Question 24

what is a lymphoma?

Answer 24

malignant proliferation of cells of the lymphoid tissue

Question 25

what is a teratoma?

Answer 25

a tumour composed of various cell type’s, representative of all three germ cell layers. can be benign or malignant

Question 26

examples of teratoma’s?

Answer 26

ovary teratoma, testis teratoma, midline teratoma

Question 27

what is a premalignant condition?

Answer 27

a lesion with an increased risk of developing invasive tumours. they can be neoplastic or non-neoplastic

Question 28

non-neoplastic examples of premalignant conditions?

Answer 28

chronic inflammation, cirrhosis of the liver, chronic ulcerative colitis, xeroderma pigmentosum

Question 29

neoplastic examples of premalignant conditions?

Answer 29

familial polyposis cells, intra-epithelial neoplasia

Question 30

describe tumour grading and staging:

Answer 30

grading depends on how bad the tumour looks and correlates to how aggressive the tumour behaves, staging is how far the tumour has spread

Question 31

what is meant by cell differentiation?

Answer 31

how closely tumour cells histologically and functionally represent their normal cell counterparts

Question 32

what is tumour staging based on?

Answer 32

size of primary tumour, lymph node spread, any blood borne metastasis

Question 33

describe the TNM system?

Answer 33

T = size of tumour (T1-T4), N = lymph node involvement (N0-N3), M= distant metastasis (M0-M1)

Question 34

effects of benign tumours?

Answer 34

mechanical pressure, obstruction, ulceration, infection, rupture of cystic neoplasm, infarction of pedunculated tumour, hormone production

Question 35

effects of malignant tumours?

Answer 35

tissue destruction, haemorrhage (breaching a vessel wall), secondary infection, cachexia, pain, anaemia, paraneoplastic syndromes

Question 36

what is a ‘paraneoplastic syndrome’ ?

Answer 36

a tumour-associated syndrome in which the symptoms are not directly related to the spread of the tumour or to the production of hormones indigenous to the tumour tissue

Question 37

what is the most common paraneoplastic syndrome?

Answer 37

hypercalcaemia - caused by none marrow resorption