Neoplasia Flashcards
hyperplasia
increase in number of cells
hypertrophy
increase in size of cells
atrophy
decrease in size of cells
metaplasia
change in the cell type (reversible)
apoptosis
programmed cell death
necrosis
uncontrolled cell death
dysplasia
abnormal/ atypical cells due to a failure of differentiation
neoplasia
an excessive, irreversible and uncontrolled growth which persists even after withdrawal of the stimuli which caused it (not only cancer)
benign
localised well encapsulated, slow growing (most of the time), resemble the tissue of the organ, regular nuclei, few mitosis, damage at the local level (e.g. pushing on tissues/ organs)
dysplastic
disordered cellular features: cellular atypia, two important changes to know (pleomorphic nuclei); mitotic features (rapid invasion))
malignant
invasive, can metastasise (through lymphatics, blood or trans coelomic), growth fast, may not resemble tissue cells of origin, shows features of dysplasia, damage at local or distant site (invasive + aggressive)
cell signalling in clinical practice
alterations in cell signalling pathways can change the available treatment and prognosis of the patient
HER2 and breast cancer
cell cycle and neoplasia (microsatellite instability)
grading of neoplasms
how closely does the neoplasm correspond with the normal cells for that tissue
- the more dysplastic the cells are; the higher they grade
grade can be correlated with the likelihood to respond to treatment and with prognosis
done by the pathology using samples they receive
staging of neoplasms
how far has the neoplasms spread through the body - TNM
Tumour - measures local invasion
Node - measures spread to lymph nodes
Metastasis - measures spread to distant tissues/ secondary site
- some neoplasms have their own staging e.g. FIGO staging
Staging usually occurs at the MDT level rather than done by the pathologist exclusively
five main categories of neoplasm effects
local, metastatic, systemic, para-neoplastic, mental health
