Neoplasia I

Question 1

What is a tumour?

Answer 1

Any clinically detectable lump or swelling.

Question 2

What is a neoplasm?

Answer 2

An abnormal growth of cells that persists after the initial stimulus is removed

Question 3

What is oncology?

Answer 3

Study of tumours and neoplasms

Question 4

What is metastasis?

Answer 4

A malignant neoplasm that has spread from its original site to a new non-contiguous site.

Question 5

What is dysplasia?

Answer 5

A pre-neoplastic alteration in which the cells show disordered tissue organisation, its reversible.

Question 6

Primary vs Secondary

Answer 6

The original location of the malignant neoplasm is the primary site, the place to which has spread is the secondary site.

Question 7

Benign vs malignant neoplasms.

Answer 7

Benign remain confined to their site of origin and don’t produce metastases. Malignant invade and have the potential to metastasise.

Question 8

Mode of growth in benign vs malignant

Answer 8

Benign- grow in a confined local area, they have a pushing outer margin, rarely dangerous (depends on location).
Malignant- irregular outer margin and shape, may have ulcerations and necrosis, infiltrative.

Question 9

Benign vs malignant appearance.

Answer 9

Benign neoplasms closely resemble parent tissue, they’re well differentiated. Malignant neoplasms range from well to poorly differentiated.

Question 10

What does anaplastic mean?

Answer 10

When cells have no resemblance to any tissue.

Question 11

What do cells with worsening differentiation have?

Answer 11

Increasing nuclear size, increased nuclear to cytoplasmic size, increased nuclear staining (hypochromasia), increased numbers of mitotic figures, abnormal mitotic figures (Mercedes), variation in size and shape of cells and nuclei (pleomorphism)

Question 12

Initiators of neoplasia.

Answer 12

Chemicals- smoking, alcohol, diet and obesity. Infectious agents- HPV. Radiation. Inherited mutations.

Question 13

Which genes are affected?

Answer 13

Growth promoting proto-oncogenes, growth inhibiting tumour suppressor genes, genes that regulate programmed cell death, genes involved in DNA repair.

Question 14

In general, how are neoplasms named?

Answer 14

Benign tumour end in -oma, malignant tumours end in carcinoma (if epithelial), sarcoma (if stromal).

Question 15

Function of tumour suppressor genes.

Answer 15

Normal function is to stop cell proliferation, generally causes loss of function. Abnormalities in these genes leads to failure of growth inhibition.