Neoplasia Flashcards
What are the two types of neoplasia
Benign and malignant
What features determine how bad a neoplasm is
Differentiation
Rate of growth
Local invasion
Metastasis (spread to a distanced site)
Levels of differentiation
Well
Moderate
Poor
Anaplastic
Features of poor differentiation
Variability in nuclear size/shape
High nuclear:cytoplasm ratio
Increased mitosis activity
Necrosis
Benign tumours
Well differentiated
Non invasive
Slow growing
Don’t metastasise
Usually harmless - can be harmful
Malignant tumours
Varied differentiation (tends to be poor)
Invasive
Fast growing
Able to metastasise
Dysplasia
Neoplastic change or ‘pre-malignancy’
Doesn’t always lead to malignancy/cancer
Metastasis
The spread of tumour to another site
How are tumours classified
Upon their location
Epithelial/non-epithelial
Types of surface/non-glandular epithelia
Squamous
Transitional
offer protection
Types of glandular epithelia
Cuboidal
Columnar
Glandular
glands and ducts - secretion
Benign tumour suffix
-oma
Exceptions: melanoma, lymphoma, seminoma, mesothelioma
Benign tumour of glandular epithelium suffix
Adenoma
Benign tumour of surface epithelium suffix
Papilloma
Fingerlike projections
Benign tumour of squamous epithelium (eg. Skin)
Squamous cell papilloma
Papilloma - surface epithelium (benign)
Benign tumour of glandular epithelium of the colon
Colonic adenoma
Adenoma - glandular epithelium (benign)
Benign mesenchymal tumour suffix
-oma
MESENCHYMAL
A benign tumour of bone is called…
Smooth muscle…
Adipose…
Blood vessel…
Cartilage…
Fibrous tissue…
Osteoma
Leiomyoma
Lipoma
Haemangioma
Chondroma
Fibroma
Malignant tumours are called…
Carcinomas
Malignant glandular epithelium tumours are called…
Adenocarcinomas
Malignant tumour of surface epithelia are called…
(cell type) Carcinoma
Malignant mesenchymal tumours are called…
Sarcomas
Precursor cell tumours have the suffix…
-blastoma
RetinoBLASTOMA
HepatoBLASTOMA
Haematolymphoid malignancies
Lymphoma - lymphocytes (B/T)
Myeloma - plasma cells
Leukaemia - WBC (benign in bone marrow)
Melanocytic neoplasm
Melanoma - melanocytes (produce pigment of skin)
Carcinoma in situ
Very severe dysplasia
Polyploidy
When cell contains exact multiples of diploid state
eg. Tetraploidy (4n), octoploidy (8n)
Aneuploidy
When a cell contains inexact multiples of diploid state
eg. 3n, 7n
Function of p53
- Activating DNA repair proteins
- Stopping cell cycle to allow repair
- Initiating apoptosis of damaged cells
Made by TP53 - a tumour suppressor gene
Angiogenesis
Formation of blood vessels
What is a tumour suppressor gene
Genes which inhibit neoplastic growth
eg. TP53 which encode for p53
What is an oncogene
Genes which drive the neoplastic behaviour of cells
Produce oncoproteins
Aka- Mutated genes which can cause cancer
What is Rb
A tumour suppressor gene that codes for retinoblastoma protein
- Inhibits cell cycle progression until cell is ready to divide (G1 checkpoint)
Which tissues are most sensitive to carcinogenic effect of ionising radiation
Thyroid
Bone
Breast
Haematopoetic tissue
Skin - UV
Routes of metastasis
Haematogenous - by blood
Lymphatic - by lymph
Transcoelomic - across a body cavity
What is a benign tumour derived from all 3 germ cell layers called
Teratoma
The presence of lymph node metastasis mandates less aggressive treatment than does their absence
True/false
False
Mandates MORE aggressive treatment
What is the sequence of investigations with biopsy specimens in the pathology laboratory
Macroscopic examination —> microscopy for cell morphology —> immunohistochemistry —> genetics
