Respiratory IV - Neoplasms Flashcards
Bronchogenic carcinomas are derived from …
endoderm or a derivative (neuroendocrine)
What is the difference in treatment between small cell carcinomas and non-small cell carcinomas?
Small cell - not resectable, but sensitive to chemo
Non-small cell - resectable, but less responsive to chemo
Tobacco smoking is related to bronchogenic carcinoma.
What % of lung cancers are in smokers?
What other cancers are smokers at risk for?
What changes are seen in respiratory epithelium?
Why is smoking related?
80% of lung cancer in smokers
Other risk: lip, tongue, floor of mouth, pharynx, esophagus, urinary bladder, pancreas
Histologic changes in lining epithelium
- -squamous metaplasia / atypia in central airways
- -goblet (glandular) metaplasia in peripheral airways
Smoke contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phnol derivates, contaminants
What industrial and environmental hazards pose a risk of bronchogenic carcinoma?
- Asbestos
- Radiation (miners, accidental, war)
- Nickel, chromates, coal, mustard gas, arsenic, beryllium, iron
- Air pollution
- Radon – bulk of cancers in nonsmokers
There is also a genetic component involved in bronchogenic carcinoma. What genes are involved?
C-myc – small cell
K-ras – adenocarcinoma
p53
We don’t really know the association, but it seems that previous injury is associated with a certain cancer. Which cancer?
Scarring is usually associated with adenocarinoma
Bronchogenic carcinoma morphology
- -where does it originate?
- -what is the tissue like?
- -how does it metastasize? where to?
3/4 take origin from 1st, 2nd, or 3rd order bronchi
- -tissue is gray-white and firm
- -two paths: fungate into lumen or infiltrate along wall
- -extension to pleural surface, mediastinum, pericardium, regional lymph nodes
- -early metastasis through both lymphatic and hematogenous routes
- -most common sites: ADRENALS; liver, brain, bone
What secondary pathologies can develop as a result of bronchogenic carcinoma?
- -partial obstruction - focal emphysema
- -total obstruction - atelectasis
- -impaired drainage - severe suppurative or ulcerative bronchitis, bronchiolitis, bronchiectasis
- -pulmonary abscesses
- -superior vena cava syndrome
- -pleuritis, pleural effusions, pericarditis
(secondary pathologies are related anatomic changes distal to bronchial involvement)
What are the types of bronchogenic carcinomas?
- Squamous cell carcinoma (40%)
- Adenocarcinoma (35%)
- Small cell carcinoma (25%)
- -Large cell carcinoma
- -Bronchioalveolar carcinoma
- -Carcinoid tumor
Squamous cell carcinoma
- -correlated with?
- -what histologic features are seen?
- -where do they arise?
- -spread?
- -what paraneoplastic syndrome is this associated with?
–closely correlated with a smoking history
- -production of keratin and intercellular bridges in well- differentiated forms
- -less well-differentiated tumors merge with large cell tumors
–arises in larger, more central bronchi
- -tends to spread locally
- -metastasizes somewhat later but grows more rapidly
–associated with hypercalcemia syndrome
Adenocarcinoma
- -derived from?
- -common in who?
- -located where?
- -histology?
- -growth?
- -bronchial-derived adenocarcinoma (glandular metaplasia in small airways)
- -most common type in women and non-smokers
- -more peripherally located, smaller
- -vary histologically from well-differentiated to papillary lesions to solid masses
- -80% contain mucin
- -grow more slowly
- -may be associated with scarring; less frequently associated with smoking
Large cell carcinoma
- -what kind of tumor?
- -histology?
- -anaplastic with larger, more polygonal cells and vesicular nuclei
- -probably undifferentiated squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas
- -intracellular mucin, multinucleate giant cells
- -also “clear cell” and “spindle cell” types
Small cell carcinoma
- -malignant?
- -what do the cells look like?
- -how do the cells grow?
–highly malignant tumor
- -cells are small with little cytoplasm; round or oval
- –lymphocyte-like, but twice the size of lymphocytes “oat cells”
- –some others spindle-shaped or polygonal
- -resemble Kulchitsky’s neuroendocrine cells seen along bronchial epithelium in fetus and neonate
- –on EM, dense-core neurosecretory granules
–grow in clusters without glandular or squamous organization
Small cell carcinoma
- -associated with?
- -most often where?
- -can it be cured?
- -associated with paraneoplastic syndromes
- –ADH - hyponatremia
- –ACTH - cushings
- -strong relationship to cigarette smoking - only 1% occur in nonsmokers
- -most often hilar or central; most aggressive; metastasize widely
- -virtually incurable
Small cell carcinomas can metastasize easily. Explain how being derived from neuroendocrine cells affects this.
Neuroendocrine cells don’t grow with other cells, so they already have the advantage of being able to spread without having to detach from each other