Lecture 35: Characteristics of Tumours

Question 1

What is a tumour?

Answer 1

a swelling or mass of any kind

Question 2

What is neoplasia?

Answer 2

New, uncontrolled growth of cells that is not under physiologic control.

   Can be benign or malignant.

Question 3

Define Cancer.

Answer 3

a generic term for a large group of diseases characterized by the growth of abnormal cells beyond their usual boundaries that can then invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs

Question 4

What are the 8 hallmarks of cancer?

Answer 4

1. Sustaining proliferative signalling
2. Evading growth suppressions
3. Avoiding immune destruction
4. Enabling replicative immortality
5. Activating invasion and metastasis
6. Inducing angiogenesis
7. Resisting cell death
8. Deregulating cellular energetics.

Question 5

What 2 factors causes mutations to accumulate?

Answer 5

1. Environmental factors causing mutations
2. Inherited genetic mutations

Question 6

What is embryological histogenesis?

Answer 6

The formation of differentiated tissues from undifferentiated
endoderm, ectoderm and mesoderm cells.

Question 7

What is tumour histogenesis?

Answer 7

tumours are named according to the tissues from which they arise

Question 8

Where does a carcinoma arise from?

Answer 8

Endoderm

Question 9

Where do sarcomas arise from?

Answer 9

Mesoderm

Question 10

Where do melanomas arise from?

Answer 10

Ectoderm

Question 11

What is differentiation?

Answer 11

the extent to which aneoplasmresembles its tissue of origin

Question 12

What is well-differentiated?

Answer 12

neoplasm closely resembles tissue of origin

Question 13

What is moderately differentiated?

Answer 13

neoplasm shows some resemblance to tissue of origin

Question 14

What is poorly differentiated?

Answer 14

neoplasm does not resembletissue of origin

Question 15

What is anaplasia?

Answer 15

a neoplasm that is poorly
differentiated
AND highly
pleomorphic

Question 16

What are the most common cancer in women in 2016 excluding non-melanoma skin cancers?

Answer 16

1. Breast
2. Lung
3. Bowel

Question 17

What were the 3 most common causes of death by cancer in women in 2017?

Answer 17

1. Lung (21%)
2. Breast (15%)
3. Bowel (10%)

Question 18

What are the most common cancers in men in 2016 excluding non-melanoma skin cancer?

Answer 18

1. Prostate
2. Lung
3. Bowel

Question 19

What were the 3 most common causes of death by cancer in male in 2017?

Answer 19

1. Lung (21%)
2. Prostate (14%)
3. Bowel (10%)

Question 20

What are the neoplasm characteristics
in terms of invasion if its benign?

Answer 20

Neoplasm does NOT invade surrounding tissues

Question 21

What are the neoplasm characteristics in terms of invasion if it is malignant?

Answer 21

Neoplasm DOES invade surrounding tissues

Question 22

Do benign tumour metastisise?

Answer 22

No

Question 23

Do malignant tumours metastasise?

Answer 23

May metastasise
-Lymphatic
-Haematogenous
-Direct Seeding

Question 24

What is the rate of growth of a benign tumour?

Answer 24

Slow rate of growth

Question 25

What is the rate of growth in a malignant tumour?

Answer 25

Fast rate of growth (Division exceeds cell death)

Question 26

Are benign tumour well differentiated?

Answer 26

Usually well differentiated

Question 27

Are malignant tumours well differentiated?

Answer 27

A range of differentiation
Well  Moderate  Poorly differentiated  anaplastic

Question 28

What is usually the prognosis of benign tumours?

Answer 28

Rarely fatal (unless CNS)

Question 29

What is usually the prognosis of a malignant tumour?

Answer 29

Often fatal

Question 30

What are the three complications of tumours?

Answer 30

1. Effects of primary tumours
2. Effects of distant metastases
3. Paraneoplastic syndromes

Question 31

What are the primary effects of a tumour?

Answer 31

• Invasion into and replacement of normal tissues/ organs>failure of that organ to function (eg bone marrow, liver)
• Pressure on normal tissue - failure of that organ to function (esp in brain)
• Invasion into blood vessels>bleeding
• Pressure on blood vessels>ischaemia
• Pressure/ invasion into nervesàloss of nerve function / pain
• Grow into a lumenàobstruction (eg colon)

Question 32

What are the effects of distant metastases?

Answer 32

When a cancer spreads to different parts of the body forming new (secondary) tumours

Invasion into tissues/ pressure on tissues/ Invasion into blood vessels etc

Question 33

What are paraneoplastic Syndromes?

Answer 33

Signs and symptoms that are NOT related to local effects of the primary or metastatic tumours

Question 34

What two factors causes the development of paraneoplastic syndromes?

Answer 34

1. Proteins/ hormones secreted by tumour cells
2. Immune cross reactivity between tumour cells and normal tissues

Question 35

What is the stroma?

Answer 35

cells that support the
parenchyma

Question 36

What is an organ?

Answer 36

parenchyma + stroma

Question 37

What is the parenchyma?

Answer 37

cells that perform actual function of an organ eg cells that do gas exchange (pneumocytes)in the lungs, cells that contract in the heart (myocytes)

Question 38

What are the main 3 cell types that the stroma contains?

Answer 38

-Blood vessels
2. Fibroblasts (And the collagen they make)
3. Immune cells

Question 39

Is a tumour stroma similar to normal stroma?

Answer 39

Tumour stroma composed of the same cells types as normal stroma, but the stromal cells have different functions.

Question 40

How is tumour stroma important?

Answer 40

Tumour stroma is required for a cell to acquire the ‘hallmarks of cancer’ and become malignant