Neoplasia

Question 1

Neoplasia Definition

Answer 1

New Growth, another term for cancer

Question 2

What is neoplasia?

Answer 2

Neoplasia occurs when damage occurs to a cell that allows it to divide regardless of whether it is told to by other cells

Question 3

What is oncology?

Answer 3

The study of neoplasia

Question 4

What is cellular proliferation?

Answer 4

cells rapidly dividing

Question 5

What are the four components of a neoplasm?

Answer 5

-divide at a faster rate
-not coordinated with surrounding tissue
-do not perform a function that supports the organism
-essentially like a parasite; it benefits from the support of other cells, but is detrimental to the organism as a whole

Question 6

Why are neoplasms bad?

Answer 6

-They are not concerned with the organism as a whole.
-These growths do not perform a function that supports the function of the organism.

Question 7

Tumor definition

Answer 7

swelling or growth; more often associated with being benign

Question 8

Benign vs Malignant Overall Definitions

Answer 8

Benign- non-dangerous tumors
Malignant- invade and spread (dangerous tumors)
Key difference: malignant tumors are capable of invading and damaging the surrounding tissues and can spread to other parts of the body

Question 9

What is cancer?

Answer 9

Cancer is a word most commonly used with malignant neoplasms.

Derived from the word “crab” from Greek physician, Hippocrates

Question 10

Anaplasia

Answer 10

completely undifferentiated

Question 11

What are the four key factors that determine whether a tumor is malignant or benign

Answer 11

1. Differentiation
   Benign- well-differentiated
   Malignant- poorly-differentiated
2. Rate of Growth
   Benign- Slow growth rate
   Malignant- High growth rate
3. Local invasion
   Benign- well-contained/encapsulated (fibrous tissue that keeps the tumor as a clearly defined mass); does not invade the tissues/structures surrounding them; rarely grows back once surgically removed
   Malignant- not encapsulated; invades surrounding tissues/structures; difficult to have clarity where the edges are and cut out completely; can grow back if not completely removed
4. Metastasis
   Benign- does not metastasize
   Malignant- have the potential to metastasize

Question 12

Well-differentiated

Answer 12

cells look similar to the surrounding cells

Question 13

Poor-differentiated

Answer 13

cells look nothing like the surrounding cells

Question 14

How is the rate of growth related to differentiation?

Answer 14

Well-differentiation (Benign tumors) grow more slowly/ have a lower rate of growth

Poor-Differentiation (Malignant tumors) grow quickly/ have a higher rate of growth

Question 15

What is metastasis?

Answer 15

Cancer spread; tumors that appear in other parts of the body that are separate from the original or primary tumor; spread occurs by the bloodstream, lymphatic system, or body cavities; in most cases, it is impossible to cure once the cancer has spread

Question 16

Adenoma

Answer 16

form of benign tumor that is glandular; theses can release hormones

ex. adenoma of the pituitary gland cause the release of hormones (Cushing’s disease)

Question 17

Polyps

Answer 17

technically benign tumors but can also be precursors to malignant tumors

Question 18

Are there ever any benign tumors of the brain?

Answer 18

any tumor in the brain cannot truly be considered benign; the skull is a fixed volume, so anything else inside will create pressure and cause various problems

*any type of brain tumor will cause an increase in pressure as they grow and start compressing parts of the brain

Question 19

How do tumors develop?

Answer 19

Tumors develop from the proliferation of a single abnormal cells

Question 20

How does damage to the cell’s DNA pass on to the following generation of tumor cells?

Answer 20

Transcription and Translation!
Transcription is changing the DNA to mRNA and translation to translating the code of the mRNA into proteins. Any mutation in the original DNA will pass on to the original cell’s daughter cells when it undergoes mitosis (or meiosis for sex cells)

The proteins that a cells makes determines the type of cell it is and what the cell does. If the DNA changes then the mRNA changes then the protein changes —> so the function of the cell ultimately changes

Question 21

Is cancer a genetic disease?

Answer 21

Yes! Mutation occurs at the gene level; this doesn’t mean that it is hereditary

Question 22

What properties does a cancerous cell have?

Answer 22

1. Self-sufficiency in growth signals
2. Insensitive to anti-growth signals
3. Tissue invasion and metastasis
4. Limitless replicative potential
5. Sustained angiogenesis (stimulate new growth of blood vessels to supply bloody supply necessary for growth)
6. Avoiding apoptosis (cell death)