Neoplasia Flashcards
Neoplasm
=”new growth”
cells unresponsive to normal growth controls- able to expand outwith normal anatomical limits
Non-neoplastic lumps
hamartoma: normal components, but all mixed up. tissue is chaotically arranged, but in an appropriate site.
ex: fibroadnexal hamartoma- massive increase in fibrous connective tissue with dilated apocrine sweat glands. dilated d/t blockage by expanding fibrous tissue.
choristoma: tissue chaotically arranged but in an abnormal site (e.g. dermoid)
Normal mature skin on cornea: haired skin on cornea–>hasn’t properly differentiated to corneal epithelium
presentation of choristoma on cornea: scratching, rubbing, tear production, conjunctivitis
Changes which may precede neoplasia
Hypertrophy: increase in cell size
Hyperplasia: increase in cell number
NB: hypertrophy and hyperplasia don’t necessarily lead to neoplasia
Metaplasia: i.e. cuboidal–>squamous
Dysplasia: everything becomes a little jumbled; lose polarity
Preneoplastic changes are reversible, arise in response to physiologic demands, injury or irriation and if the inciting factor is removed, will regress.
Hyperplasia
e.g. gingival hyperplasia- v. little attachment to normal gum, pretty easy to remove, but they will regrow
overgrowth of gums; affects 30% of boxers over 5 years old (also great danes and dobermans)
cause gum recession as well as mal-alignment
symptoms: pain on eating, bleeding
e. g sebaceous hyperplasia: dome-shaped/papillated mass(es) usually on head
hyperplastic sebaceous gland duct–once you lose ducts –>neoplasm.
Functional consequences of hyperplasia
i.e. passage of feces restricted with a massively enlarged prostate
Prostatic disease in dogs: enlarged prostate can impact colon, can crush surrounding structures–>difficult defecating, urinating, blood in urine.
Veterinary tumor groupings
most tumors are a monoclonal population (i.e. one cell type)
Mesenchymal (mesoderm): CT, fat, cartilage, endothelium and related tissues, muscle, hematopoeitic and lymphoid tissue
Epithelial (endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm): ectoderm- covering epithelium (skin); mesoderm- solid organs (renal tubules, hepatocytes); ectoderm- lining epithelium (gut).
Nervous tissue: CNS and PNS- glial and neural cells
Mixed: divergent differentiation of monoclonal cell- mammary gland (mixed mammary tumor- bits of cartilage, bone, epithelial tissue) , testicle, ovary
Undifferentiated: tend to have v. bad prognosis
Naming tumours
Mesenchymal benign: “oma” i.e. fibroma, lipoma
Mesenchymal malignant: “sarcoma” i.e. fibrosarcoma, lymphosarcoma (or lymphoma- no benign lymphoid tumours)
Epithelial benigin: “oma” i.e. papilloma, adenoma
Epithelial malignant: “carcinoma” i.e. squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma
Tumour components
parenchyma: neoplastic or transformed cells- determine biological behavior of tumor
stroma: absolutely essential for physical support and growth- non-neoplastic, host-derived support tissues— connective tissue (collagen), blood vessels, host-derived inflammatory cells
Benign vs. malignant
4 distinguishing features:
- differentation and anaplasia (total lack of differentation)
- rate of growth
- local invasion
- metastasis- spread to distant sites in body.
Characteristics of benign tumours
Differentiation: well-differentiated (can work out where they came from i.e. look how they’re supposed to), recognizable structure
Growth rate: slow, progressive expansion; v. rare mitotic figures
Local invasion: no true invasion; expansile growth; often encapsulated
Metastasis: none
see clear margins between normal and neoplastic tissue
Characteristics of Malignant tumours
Differentiation: lack of differentiation, structure often atypical
growth rate: slow to rapid (erratic); increased number of mitotic figures, as well as abnormal (asymmetrical) mitotic figures
Local invasion: infiltrative growth- not freely moveable on palpation
Metastasis: frequent
cause death if untreated.
Markers of differentiation
Cell morphology: neoplastic cells often lose any recognizable gross and histological appearance
Cell function: usually lost in malignant tumours; regulatory mechanisms lost
Cell behavior: increasingly aggressive with loss of differentiation and function
Morphology
nb: normal connective tissue all goes in same direction; abnormal has bundles going in different directions
in altered morphology: see nucleoli, wide variation in cells (anisocytosis) and wide variation in nuclear size (anisokaryosis)
Function
Maintained: bovine squamous cell carcinoma- multilayered epithelial layer, not straight surface. keratin in the middle (rather than on surface) because it’s growing DOWN into the tissue. infiltrative picture. Malignant, but function maintained.
Altered: cat sqaumous cell carcinoma- no obvious keratin production, invasive.
Species differences in tumour function
e.g. granulosa cell tumour
balance of hormones important; many produce steroids (oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone)
Bovine: common in large animals- non-malignant, rarely metastasize- polycystic ovary, solid can also occur
Mare: gc tumour- high testosterone–>anestrus, nymphomania, stallion-like behavior
Bitch: can be malignant, produces oestrogens (prolonged oestrus), if progesterone produced–>cystic endometrial hyperplasia, pyometra
Cell morphology: histo features of malignancy
Neoplastic cells have large nucleus with a prominent nucleolus–ex: neoplastic sheet of lymphoid cells; nucleus is much paler,open-faced (vesicular). variation in size of nuclei and can see nucelolus
Increased mitosis and abnormal mitotic figures
In summary: enlarged nucleus with prominent nucleolus; increased mitosis (abnormal mitotic figures); multiple nucleoli; “bizarre” cells
Mechanisms regulating numbers in normal cell populations
Baseline cell population has a lot of factors affecting it:
proliferation, differentiation, stem cells, cell death
Proliferation: normal vs. tumour
Proliferation in normal tissues: checkpoints at G1 and G2– balance of permanent+stable+labile cells
Tumor cells: spend v. little time in G0–> don’t undergo cell-cycle arrest–>pushes quiescent stable cells back into cell cycle. No checkpoints happening therefore DNA damage can become even more severe.
Mechanisms of tumour growth
altered proliferation potential: can shorten cell cycle; convert quiescent cells into dividing cells
neoplastic cells: escape normal limits on cell division; independent of external growth factors; not susceptible to apoptotic factors
Re-expression of telomerase: enzyme allowing replication and expansion of telomeres; important in immortality.
Telomerase
embryonic cells express telomerase
extreme ends of DNA templates (telomeres) not duplicated at cell divsion- very short telomeres mean cell division can’t happen
neoplastic cells often regain ability to produce telomerase–> allows immortality.
Growth modulation in normal tissue vs. neoplastic
Normal: constant transfer of information between cells; stimulatory/inhibitory/hormones
Neoplastic: cells lose dependence; not responsive to needs of whole organism–> drive their own replication
Apoptosis
Many neoplastic cells are resistant due to a functional inactivation of p53 gene–> overall growth rate increased
Activate survival singalling pathways–> cells independent of exogenous survival factors
Inactivate death factor signalling pathways–>evade apoptosis
Normally, apoptosis allows tissue homeostasis
Can be pathologically induced: withdrawal of survival factors, binding of death factors (Fas ligand, TNF-alpha), hypoxia, DNA damage (p53), cytotoxic immune cells (T-cells and NK-cells); caspases (intracellular proteases) are final effectors.
Morphological markers of apoptosis
no marked inflammatory response because remnants are membrane bound
margination of chromatin
condensation and fragmentation of nucleus
condensation of cells with preservation of organelles.
Tumor growth
as the tumor cell population expands, a higher percentage of cells leave the replicative pool by reverting to G0, differentiation and death. Despite this, there’s still SOME control.