Pathoma 3

Question 1

most common cancers in adults (other than skin cancer)

Answer 1

*by incidence:
1. breast/prostate
2. lung
3. colorectal

*by MORTALITY:
1. lung
2. breast/prostate
3. colorectal

Question 2

how many divisions of a single mutated cell must occur before a cancer produces clinical symptoms?

Answer 2

*approximately 30 divisions occur before the earliest symptoms arise

Question 3

neoplasia and neoplastic progression - overview

Answer 3

*uncontrolled, MONOCLONAL proliferation of cells
*can be benign or malignant
*any neoplastic growth has 2 components: parenchyma (neoplastic cells) and supporting stroma (non-neoplastic; eg. blood vessels, connective tissue)

Question 3

tumor nomenclature: carcinoma vs. sarcoma

Answer 3

*carcinoma implies epithelial origin
*sarcoma implies mesenchymal origin
*both terms generally imply malignancy

Question 4

carcinogens - defined

Answer 4

*agents that damage cell DNA
*important carcinogens include chemicals, oncogenic viruses, and radiation

Question 5

Bcl2 - function

Answer 5

*normally stabilizes mitochondrial membrane, blocking release of cytochrome c
*disruption of Bcl2 allows cytochrome c to leave mitochondria and activate apoptosis

*note: Bcl2 is overexpressed in follicular lymphoma - t(14;18) moves Bcl2 to Ig heavy chain locus