L14: Pathology Of Cancer- Management Flashcards
When we classify neoplasms into benign what are the features of benign
Smooth
Well circumscribed
Mobile
When we classify neoplasms as malignant what are the features of malignant
Irregular
Poorly defined
Fixed to adjacent structures
For example what are the 2 classifications of breast lumps
Fibroadenoma- benign
Breast carcinoma- malignant
What are the fibroadenoma features
Smooth
Well circumscribed
Mobile
What are the features of breast carcinoma
Irregular
Poorly circumscribed
Rarely moves on palpation
Tethered to other tissue
Why does the majority of cancer arise from epithelial cells n the mucosa layer
- It is a region exposed to high concentration of carcinogen
- It has a high rate turnover so the rate of mutation is higher
What are the sites of colon carcinoma
Ascending Colon
Sigmoid colon
What is the clinical presentation of colon carcinoma at the ascending colon
Often polyploid
Rarely causes bowel obstruction
Anaemia
Weight loss
What is the clinical presentation of sigmoid colon carcinoma
Often stenosing
Bowel obstruction
Alteration in bowel habit e.g diarrhoea as only liquid can pass the narrowing
What are the 3 types of specimens we can collect
1) biopsy
2) cytology specimen
3) surgical resection specimen
What are biopsy
Removing a small piece of tissue
What do cytology specimens collect
Cells
How are cytology specimens obtained, give examples
Smears
Endoscopic brushing
Body fluid
Fine needle aspiration
What does surgically resected specimen O’Brien
Removes all cancer
What are the limitations to biopsy
- Tumour heterogeneity- different parts of the tumour may have a different appearance and this may be missed as we collect a small piece
- targeting the lesion accurately is difficult if the lesion is small, inaccessible, surrounding stromal reaction