Neoplasia Flashcards
What categories can neoplasms be broken into?
Benign and malignant
Characteristics of a benign neoplasm
Uncontrolled, slow growth of cells that are differentiated, non invasive
Characteristics of a malignant neoplasm
Disorderly, rapid undifferentiated growth that does not stop. Cancerous. It kills local tissue to make space for itself, very invasive
What is cancer due to?
Mutated genes
Which gene is defective in most cancers?
TP53 gene
What does the TP53 gene do?
Causes apoptosis when DNA is damaged
What do DNA repair genes do?
“Spell check” by fixing incorrect DNA sequence, detect and fix altered genes
What do Proto Oncogenes do?
They increase cell division
What happens if the Proto oncogene is mutated?
Uncontrolled cell division occurs leading to increased tissue growth
What does the tumor suppressor gene do?
Stops cell division and decrease cell growth
What happens if the tumor suppressor gene is mutated?
Cell division is uninhibited and there is an increase in tissue/cell growth
What is an oncogene?
Causes malignant or cancerous growth
What is the suffix for a benign tumor?
OMA
What is the suffix for a malignant tumor in epithelium and mesenchyme?
Carcinoma in epithelium and sarcoma in mesenchyme
How big does a tunic have to be in order to be clinically detectable?
1 cm
How big does a tumor get every 100 days?
Doubles in size
What are the three methods of spread?
Extension and invasion, seeding in body cavities, and metastasis via blood or lymph
Extension and invasion
Is local and the tumor will grow and kill normal tissue in that specific area
Seeding in body cavities
Is not local, malignant cells will drop off in a body cavity and begin to grow
Metastasis via blood/lymph
Distance spread, malignant cells spread from primary site to secondary site
What are common secondary sites?
Lymphatic system
In what order does the cancer spread after reaching the secondary site?
Liver, lungs, bones, and brain
What is a requirement of a secondary site?
It must has good perfusion
What occurs during stage 1 of tumor growth?
A tumor secretes enzymes that destroy normal tissue and emboli enters blood or lymph vessel
What occurs during stage 2 of tumor growth?
Emboli travel via blood/lymph and once it reaches a capillary bed it attached to endothelial wall. Emboli uses cytokines and growth factor to determine the best secondary site
What occurs during stage 3 of tumor growth?
Angiogenesis and cell growth secondary site
What does staging a tumor do?
Places tumor at a stage in its progression
Describe the TNM system
T= determines size using numbers from 0-4 N= extent of regional lymph node involvement M= extent of metastasis
What does TNMx mean?
The tumor cannot be assessed
How to grade a tumor
Using numbers 1-4, grades the tumor locally
What are the 6 cancer treatment options?
Radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery, and combination therapy
Radiation therapy
Free radical production destroy malignant cells by disrupting DNA bonds but is not limited to only cancer cells
Chemotherapy
Use of drugs to target cell division which slows growth, but is not limited to only malignant cells
Surgery
Excise tumor, best option if all malignant cells can be excised, run risk of not getting them all
Immunotherapy
Cytokines and antibodies are given to kick start immune response to kill malignant cells, but immune cels eventually are not enough to destroy proliferating malignant cells, often used with chemo and is not used as a stand alone therapy
Hormone therapy
Taking away hormone support of tumor (anti-androgen for example) or over-supplying tumor with hormone to down regulate receptors, can only be used on hormone dependent tumor a and disrupts regular function
Combination therapy
Radiation and surgery, combination of main treatments and at times immunotherapy may be added
What are the problems associated with cancer treatment?
Killing normal cells, not precise, and recurrence of cancer
What is a neoplasm?
An abnormal mass as a result from neoplasia
