Oncology Basics Flashcards
What is cancer?
Changes in a single renegade cell that gives rise to uncontrolled, unorganized, and purposeless growth of that cell line
Any cell in body
Malignant cell properties (6 things)
Self-sufficiency in growth signals Insensitivity to anti-growth signals Evasion of apoptosis Limitless replicative potential Sustained angiogenesis Tissue invasion and metastasis
What is Malignant Transformation?
Mutation or epigenetic change: altering the genetic code of a somatic cell endowing it with limitless replicative potential or another growth or survival advantage
3 Events That Lead to Malignant Transformation
Initiation: initial change
Promotion: more mutations or changes, can be stimulated by initiating agent or normal growth factors or hormones (ex: Sun)
Progression: more mutaitons towards more malignant phenotype (population of cancer cells doing this to themselves)
Malignant Transformation: Change that leads to aberrant differentiation (4)
Activation of oncogenes (normal cellular protein, mutation or viral DNA integration into host genome results in activation)
Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes
Altered repair capacity of DNA (genetic mutation)
Defective apoptosis
Benign vs Malignant:
Differentiation
Benign: well differentiated, organized like tissue of origin
Malignant: undifferentiated, cells lack organization
Benign vs Malignant:
Boundaries
Benign: Defined, can be encapsulated
Malignant: Poorly defined, invasive (infiltrative lipoma b/c not encapsulated)
Benign vs Malignant:
Mitosis
Benign: Rare
Malignant: Common
Benign vs Malignant:
Rate of growth
Benign: Slow
Malignant: Fast (aggressive)
Benign vs Malignant:
Clinical Results
Benign: Local compression, hormone production, disfigurement
Malignant: Local destruction, local compression, tumor necrosis, hormone production, disfigurement, metastasis into vital organs
Benign vs Malignant:
Epithelial Glandular Origin
Benign: Adenoma
Malignant: Adenocarcinoma
Benign vs Malignant:
Epithelial Surface Origin
Benign: Polyp, epithelioma, pappilloma
Malignant: Carcinoma
Benign vs Malignant:
Connective Tissue Origin
Benign: Tissue type + oma (fibroma)
Malignant: Tissue type + sarcoma (osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma)
Benign vs Malignant:
Hemolymphatic
Benign: None
Malignant: Leukemia
& Lymphoma/lymphosarcoma
Tumor Growth
Initially there is high growth factor and mitotic index, short DT
As tumor grows there is low growth factor and mitotic index, prolonged DT