Exam 2- Cancer biology

Question 1

Carcinoma

Answer 1

Cancer arising from skin

Question 2

Sarcoma

Answer 2

Cancer arising from connective tissue

Question 3

Leukemia

Answer 3

Cancers arising from bone marrow stem cells and always originate in the bone marrow.

Overproduction of immature WBCs. Not able to fight infections. And too many cells.

SOB, weakness, lymph node swelling, enlargement of liver and spleen, petechiae.

Question 4

Benign tumor

Answer 4

Benign tumors, which are not referred to as cancers, are usually encapsulated and well differentiated. They retain some normal tissue structure and do not invade the capsules surrounding them or spread to regional lymph nodes or distant locations. They grow slowly, have a low mitotic index, have well-defined capsules, are well-differentiated, look like the tissue from which they arose, and do not metastasize. Generally named from the tissues from which they arise, followed by the suffix “-oma.”

Question 5

Metastatic tumor

Answer 5

Malignant tumors are distinguished from benign tumors by their more rapid growth rates and specific microscopic alterations, including loss of differentiation and absence of normal tissue organization. One of the hallmarks of cancer cells, as seen under the microscope, is anaplasia, the loss of cellular differentiation, irregularities of the size and shape of the nucleus, and the loss of normal tissue structure. In general, cancers are named according to the cell type from which they originate. Cancers arising in epithelial tissue are called carcinomas, and if they arise from or form ductal or glandular structures are named adenocarcinomas. Hence, a malignant tumor arising from breast glandular tissue is a mammary adenocarcinoma. Cancers arising from connective tissue usually have the suffix sarcoma. For example, malignant cancers of skeletal muscle are known as rhabdomyosarcomas. Cancers of lymphatic tissue are called lymphomas, whereas cancers of blood-forming cells are called leukemias. They Grow rapidly, Are not encapsulate, Invade local structures and tissues, Are poorly differentiated; may not be able to determine tissue of origin, High mitotic index; many dividing cells, and Can spread distantly, often through blood vessels and lymphatics.

Question 6

Angiogenesis

Answer 6

If cancers are to grow larger than a millimeter in diameter, they need their own blood supply to deliver oxygen and nutrients. However, in adults new blood vessel growth is normally limited to areas of wound healing and to the uterus during the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle. Tiny cancers lack the ability to grow new blood vessels and may never grow larger than a grain of sand. More advanced cancers can, however, secrete multiple factors that stimulate new blood vessel growth (called neovascularization or angiogenesis)

Question 7

Oxidative phosphorylation

Answer 7

How cancer cells metabolize glucose

Question 8

Pleomorphic

Answer 8

Having variable size and shape

Question 9

Differentiation

Answer 9

The process by which a cell develops a specialized organization and function

Question 10

Anaplastic

Answer 10

Having no cellular differentiation

Question 11

Transformation

Answer 11

The process by which a normal cell becomes a cancer cell

Question 12

Neoplasm

Answer 12

A new growth

Question 13

Tumor

Answer 13

Abnormal growth resulting from uncontrolled proliferation

Question 14

Carcinoma

Answer 14

Malignant tumor arising from epithelial tissue

Question 15

Hepatocellular carcinoma

Answer 15

Primary liver cancer

Question 16

TNM numbers

Answer 16

T= tumor size and extent
N= nodes
M= metastasis 

Assigning these numbers stages the cancer

Question 17

Telomerase

Answer 17

An enzyme that enables stem cells and cancer cells to divide in definitel

Question 18

Angiogenic factors

Answer 18

How tumors stimulate formation of new blood vessels

Question 19

Carcinoma in situ

Answer 19

Abnormal premalignant growths in epithelial tissues that have not crossed the basement membrane

Question 20

Autocrine stimulation

Answer 20

I cancer cell that secretes growth factors that stimulate its own growth

Question 21

Cancer cells survival in proliferation

Answer 21

Characteristics that allow them to survive and proliferate includes loss of contact inhibition, resistance to apoptosis, and anchorage independence.

Survival of malignant tumors is facilitated by tumor associated macrophages that secrete cytokines and other factors

Question 22

Tumor markers

Answer 22

The blood test for cancer.

Include hormones enzymes jeans antigens and antibodies. Substances produced by both the nine in malignant cells that are either present in or on tumor cells are found in the blood, spinal fluid, or urine.