Gynaecological Malignancy Flashcards
What are the stages of metastasis?
- invasion of the tumour border
- (lymphatic spread)
- invasion of the circulatory system
Describe the association between malignancy and telomeres
Normal cells will shorten their telomeres of their DNA each time they replicate to limit their replication
Malignant cells have longer telomeres and can replicate more
What are the protective mechanisms of the body against cancer development
- apoptosis
- tumour suppressor genes
- shortening of telomeres
What are the stages of the cell cycle?
o G1 - duplication of everything in the cell apart from the chromosomes
o S1 - duplication of the chromosomes
o G2 - double checking of the duplication process
o Mitosis
o cytokinesis - splitting of the cytoplasm to form two separate identical cells
G0 - cell cycle arrest
What do tumour suppressor genes do and give an example?
Slow or stop the G1 phase of the cell cycle
p53
How can tumour suppressor genes lead to cancer?
Mutations in the tumour suppressor genes leads to uncontrolled cell growth
What are oncogenes?
Mutations of the normal ‘proto-oncogenes’ which are usually involved in cell growth and proliferation
Oncogenes are a gain of function mutation in proto-oncogenes
What are the commonest cancers in females in order?
- breast
- lung
- bowel
- uterus
- melanoma
- ovarian
What are the causes of endometrial cancer?
UNOPPOSED OESTRGOEN:
- obesity
- nulliparity
- late menopause
- functional ovarian tumours (granulosa) - produces oestrogen
- HRT
- PCOS
- tamoxifen (has oestrogenic effects)
- diabetes
What are the main investigations for postmenopausal bleeding?
- Transvaginal USS - endometrial thickness including simple (cystic) hyperplasia, hyperplasia with atypia, endometrial polyps
- Endometrial biopsy - if endometrium is thickened, or no thickening seen and there is significant bleeding
- Hysteroscopy with biopsy
