General Pathology Of Cancer Flashcards
Causes of cancer
Sunlight
Radiation
Tobacco
Carcinogen
Mutations
Infection
Parasites
May affect t lymphocytes or b lymphocytes
How does cancer present
Organ failure
Thrombosis
Lumps and bumps
Organ compression
All above due to physical presence of cancer tumour
Paraneoplastic syndromes
Endocrine effects
Constitutional effects = altering immune system environment cytokines
What is paraneoplastic syndrome
Not due to the direc effects of the cancer
Cachexia = weight loss
Immune or hormone related such as autoantibodies or T cell mediated
Most frequent manifestations
Neurological (anything)
Skin various rashes
Endocrine = calcium or Cushing syndrome
Haematological = abnormal blood counts and thrombosis
Two categories of cancer treatment
Radiotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy and small molecules
Immune therapy such as antibody therapy, T cell expansion, checkpoint inhibitors or chimeric T cell receptors
How is cancer classified (list several)
Based on organ of origin (bone rarely a site of primary cancer)
Benign or malignant ( benign = basement membrane intact no spread) (malignant basement membrane breached so has potential to spread but doesn’t have to)
Tissue of origin =
A benign epithelial tumour = adenoma
A malignant epithelial tumour = carcinoma
More soft tissue and bone cancers more common in children
Benign = prefix and -Oma
Malignant prefix and sarcoma
What is a Teratoma
Embryological tumour that contains all 3 germ layers and usually arise in the gonads. Can either be benign or malignant
What is a hamartoma
Disorganised tissue overgrowth that is benign in nature and may contain 1-3 germ layers
Maybe be part of a genetic syndrome eg cowdens syndrome
Classification = degree of differentiation
Benign usually resemble tissue of origin whilst malignant may be completely unrecognisable
No evidence of differentiation = anaplastic
High grade differentiation = unrecognisable (indicative of aggressive cancer
Acute vs chronic in haematological cancer
Acute is large cell and high grade which grows quickly but is more treatable than chronic in which is small cell, low grade and more slow growing and usually incurable
Most common cancer
Lung cancer (lung adenocarcinoma)
Genetically EGFR mutation is most common cause in which oncogene is expressed more that signals cells to continually divide
Immunohistochemistry used in diagnosis of mostly haematological cancers does what….
Allows staining of specific proteins that may indicate what the origin of the cancer may be
What % of cancer is inherited
10%, inherited cancers higher in children and younger adults or rare types of cancer
Eg BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene that may tell about lifetime risk
Treatment options = prophylactic surgery, screening and drugs
What is dysplasia
Abnormal cell appearance which has the potential to develop into a cancer
Has some underlying acquired genomic alterations
Barrett’s esopahgus
Change of epithelium from squamous to columnar of the oesophagus.
Due to the influx of acid into the oesophagus sometimes
A form of metaplasia
How do tumours progress?
Normal tissue —> dysplasia —> adenoma —> carcinoma (with increasing levels of genomic damage towards carcinoma)
But can bypass and skip stages
Carcinomas are in situ, then may locally spread and then distally spread. (Can also skip stages)
