Lesson 10 Flashcards
What is the number of new cancer diagnoses (excluding diagnoses for non-melanoma skin cancers)?
305 683
What is the rate of people dying from cancer in England in 2017?
270.1 deaths per 100 000
What are the four malignant neoplasms with the highest incidence?
Breast, prostate, lung, bowel
Predicting outcomes of patients survival from different malignant neoplasms?
age and general health status the tumour site, the tumour type, the grade (i.e. differentiation) the tumour stage (see below) and the availability of effective treatments
What is prognosis?
The likely cause of a disease or ailment
What are prognostic indicators in a report?
Grading, staging, margin status, hormonal or gene status (as in breast cancers)
What is a biopsy?
Is a a small amount material used to give the primary diagnosis. A preliminary grading of tumour is also given at this stage.
What is a resection specimen?
Is the large tissue which is respected surgically with a curative intent. The tumour extent and assessment of metastasis in tissue provided(usually regional nodes) helps in staging the tumour. A final grading is also given at this stage.
Describe cellular (microscopic) characteristics of malignancy
- Increasing variation in size, shape of cells, nuclei - pleomorphism.
- Increasing nuclear size + nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio. Clumping of chromatin occurs in the nuclei
- Increase in mitotic figures including abnormal mitosis.
How does grading of tumours work?
Broadly based on how a tumour resembles its parent tissue It is usually a 3 tiers system: G1 (well differentiated) G2 (moderately differentiated) G3 (poorly differentiated) G4 (anaplastic carcinoma)
Explain the modified bloom Richardson grading for breast cancer
- Tubules(1/2/3)
- Mitoses(1/2/3)
- Nuclear pleomorphism(1/2/3) G1=4-5, G2= 6- 7, G3= 8-9
Tubule formation=1, pleomorphism =2, Mitosis=1, =4 ( Grade1)
Tubule formation=3, pleomorphism =3, Mitosis=3, =9( Grade3)
Describe ‘staging’
How far has the tumour spread?
Extent of tumour at primary site (T status)
Regional metastasis (Lymph nodes-N status)
Distant metastasis (M status)
All three then constitute the TNM stage which is divided further into stage 1 -> stage 4
Other staging also specific to tumour sites Dukes staging for colorectal cancer (phased out) and Ann Arbor staging for lymphomas
What is T status?
- At certain tumour sites it is based on size (breast and kidney).
- At other sites it is based on how far the tumour has locally advanced
Breslow’s thickness (malignant melanoma): T1 <= 1.0mm T2 1.01-2.0mm T3 2.01-4.0mm T4 >4.0mm
What is Lymph node (N) status?
Regional lymph nodes- all organs have a specific lymphatic drainage–often first sites to be involved by tumour metastasis
What is distant metastasis (M status)?
Affects other organs distant to primary tumour site