Neoplasia Flashcards
Define neoplasm
An abnormal growth of cells that persists after the initial stimulus is removed
Define malignant neoplasms
An abnormal growth of cells that persists after the initial stimulus is removed and invades surrounding tissue with potential to spread to distant sites
What is a tumour
Clinically detectable lump or swelling
What is a metastasis
Malignant neoplasms that has spread from its original site to a new site
True or false a cancer is any neoplasm
False - it’s any malignant neoplasms
What is the primary site of a tumour
The original location to where a tumour grows
What is the secondary site of a tumour
The place where a tumour spreads too
why is dyplasia not neoplastic
because It is reversible so is pre-neoplastic instead
true or false - neoplasia is irreversible
true
what are benign neoplasms
neoplasms which remain to their site of origin and don’t produce metastases
which neoplasms have the potential to metastasise
malignant neoplasms
how do benign tumours cause damage
they stay in a confined area and so push on the margin, damaging structures and causing inflammation - this is why they are rarely dangerous
what do malignant tumours look like
- irregular outer margin
- areas of necrosis and ulceration
why do malignant tumours often have areas of necrosis
as angiogenesis must to survive but this often doesn’t supply enough blood and so parts of the tumour die
what do benign tissues look like under a microscope
they are well differentiated and so looks like the normal parent tissue
what do malignant tumours look like under a microscope
ranges from well to poorly differentiated
what are anaplastic cells
cells with no resemblance to any tissue
what do cells with worsening differentiation look like
increasing nuclear size, increasing nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio, increasing nuclear staining (hyperchromasia), more mitotic figures, size and shape variations
what is pleomorphism
variations in cell size and shape
true or false - cells with a higher grade are well differentiated
false - cells with a higher grade are poorly differentiated
what causes neoplasms
accumulated mutations in somatic cells
what causes the mutations leading to a neoplasm
initiators which are mutagenic agents
what cause cell proliferation in the making of neoplasms
promoters
name some main initiators
chemicals, infections, radiation
what is progression
the accumulation of more mutations to form a neoplasm from a monoclonal population
how do we know that neoplasms are monoclonal
neoplastic tissues only express 1 isoenzyme of the glucose-6-phosphate
what are proto-oncogenes
cells which positively affect growth
what happens with proto-oncogenes are abnormally activated
they become oncogenes which favour neoplasm formation