Skin Cancer Flashcards
What are the 2 broad categories of skin cancer?
- Keratinocyte
- Melanocyte
What are the 2 types of keratinocyte skin cancers?
- Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)
- Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
What skin cancer has the best prognosis?
- BCC
- Locally invasive
- Not metastatic
What does melanoma arise from?
- Melanocytes
- Pigment producing cells of the skin
What is the difference in terms of motility between melanocytes and keratinocytes?
- Melanocytes are motile and migrate from the neural crest
What is essential in melanomas to enhance survival?
- Early diagnosis
What is a good indicator for survival in melanomas?
- Breslow Thickness
A melanoma with a breslow thickness of <1mm has a 5 year survival percentage of_____
95%-100%
A melanoma with a breslow thickness of >4mm has a 5 year survival percentage of_____
50%
A melanoma which is metastatic has a 5 year survival percentage of ____
5%
What is the ABCDE of skin cancer diagnosis
Asymmetry Border Colou Diameter Evoultion
What is the biggest risk factor for skin cancer?
- Sun exposure
Can a BCC be cured?
- yes
- locally invasive but not metastatic
What is the presentation of a BCC?
- Pearly
- Visible arborising blood vessels
- central ulceration
What are the different types of BCC?
- Superficial
- Nodular
- Infiltrative
- Pigmented
What might a SCC appear like?
- Faster growing than BCC
- Warty and crusty (hyperkeratotic)
- elderly
- sun exposed areas
SCC are non metastatic
True or false?
- FALSE
- Neglected SCC can metastasise
- Better prognosis than melanoma
What is a type of precanceorus lesion?
- Actinic keratoses
Name a DNA repair syndrome that increases risk of skin cancer?
- Xeroderma pigmentosum
- photosensitivity
- photodamage
Oculocutaneous albinism is an autosomal ____ condition that has _____ risk factors
- autosomal recessive
- risk factor of sun sensitivity and skin cancer
Define cancer
- An abnormal accumulation of cells that multipy through controlled cell division
- Can metastasise
Define oncogene and give examples
- Over active form of a gene that positively regulates cell division
- drives tumour formation
- Ras
- Raf
Define proto-oncogene
- Normal
- Not yet mutated form of an oncogene
Define tumour suppressor and give examples
- inactive or non-functioning form of a gene that negatively regulates cell division
- Rb TP53
What are some hallmarkers of cancer (6)
- resisting cell death
- sustaining proliferative signalling
- evading growth suppressors
- activating invasion and metastasis
- enabling replicative immortality
- angiogenesis
What UV light causes indirect oxidative damage
- UVA
320-400nm
What UV light causes direct DNA damage
- UVB
290-320nm
What is the scale used for different skin types
- Fitzpatrick
- types 1-6
Explain UV induced immunosuppression
- Depletion of langerhans cells
- generation of UV induced regulator T cells
- T cells with immune suppression activity
- release of anti-inflammatory cytokines
What mutation is often involved in BCC?
- PTCH
What signalling pathway is often involved in BCC and what drug can target this?
- Hedgehog pathway
- Vismodegib
Melanoma often has what mutation?
What drug can target this mutation
- BRAF
- Vemurafenib targets
Pre-cancerous lesion treatments
- cryotherapy
- solaraze
- imiquimod
What are the layers of the scalp superficial to deep
- Skin
- Connective tissue
- Aponeurosis
- Loose connective tissue
- Periosteum
