Neoplasm Flashcards
tumor
abnormal swelling or mass in the body
malignant
an abnormal growth that tends to spread
cancer
malignant tumor that invades healthy tissue and metastizes
T/F the term neoplasm includes benign and malignant tumors
true
what is the most common cancer in men
lung cancer, followed by prostate
what are the 5 most lethal cancers
- lung
- colorectal
- breast
- pancreatic
- prostate
four DNA insults that result in neoplastic mutation
- copy errors
- radiation
- chemicals
- cosmic rays
why are older people less protected from neoplasm by DNA repair
cumulative errors results in diminished repair efficiency
two genes important to tumor growth
oncogenes
tumor repressor genes
oncogenes
mutated proto-oncogenes with a gain of function mutation
what will a mutation in a tumor repressor gene do
take off the stops that keep cells from dividing at will
two types of tumor suppressor genes
- gatekeeper genes
- caretaker genes
gatekeeper genes
tumor suppressors that regulate the cell cycle and influence contact inhibition of cell growth
caretaker genes
tumor suppressor genes that repair DNA damage and maintain the integrity of the genome
two exmamples of tumor suppressor genes
- BRCA 1 and 2
- P53
what three things must happen in the multi-step theory of oncogenesis
- proto-oncogene gain of function
- tumor suppressor gene loss of function
- failure of immune surveillance
why is genetic testing important to oncogenesis
it can help determine susceptibility
how long do most tumors take to form
years to decades
three viruses associated with cancer and the cancer they cause
- Hep B and C (liver cancer)
- HPV (cervical cancer)
- Epstein barr (lymphoma)
what two characteristics make epithelium and endothelium vulnerble to neoplasm
- exposure to the environment
- rapid division
what is one particular type of cell line that are less likely to be neoplastic
mesoderm derived cells (muscle, bone, nerves)
carcinoma
epithelial origin
endothelian
adenocarcinoma
sarcoma
mesodermal origin
leukemia or lymphoma
hematopoetic
anaplastic
undermined orgin
six characteristics of neoplastic cells
- pleiomorphic
- large nucleus
- frequently dividing
- loss of differentiation
- loss of cell to cell cohesion
- evasion of apoptosis
three unique featuers of malignant cells
- fewer intracellular repair mechanisms so mutations accumulate
- genetically abnormal
- unique antigens
T/F the genome of a malignant cell is stable
false, it is very unstable and has a large number of non-coding DNA mutations
driver mutations
mutations in cancerous cells that provide an advantage to growth
hitchiker mutation
a mutation that doesn’t confer an advantage but occurs in the same genome as a driver mutation
four aspects of multimodal cancer treatment
- surgery
- radiation
- chemotherapy
- immunotherapy
four major factors in determining the success of cancer treatment
- age/health of the patient
- type of cancer
- quality healthcare
- stage of the cancer at diagnosis
two cancer staging methods
- TNM
- conventional
TNM staging
T: size of the primary tumor
N: involvement of lymph nodes
M: presence of distant metastases
describe the conventional staging system
- small primary tumor with no spread to node
- larger tumor with significant node involvement
- even larger tumor with spread to distant nodes
- presence of distant metastases
what are the four most common sites of metastases
- brain
- bone
- liver
- lungs
brute force approach to cancer treatment
uses cytotoxic drugs and radiation to kill rapidly dividing cells
three methods of targeted cancer therapy
- monoclonal antibodies
- blocking immune evasion
- invitro treatment of lymphcytes to target cancer antigens
what are monoclonal antibodies
why are they useful in cancer treatment
antibodies derived from a single B cell clone
they will only bind with one antigen, specifically those on cancer cells
what is PD-1?
what does it do?
why is it relevant to cancer treatment
a surface cell receptor common to cancer cells
it down regulates T cell function and diminished immune response
antibodies that target PD-1 receptors will allow for a normal immune response to cancer cells
describe in vitro lymphocyte treatment
NK cells are isolated from a tumor and cultured with interleukin 2, then reintroduced to the body to attack tumor cells
is eradicating cancer a reasonable goal
no, but it may be possible to make it into a managable disease
