Tumour Pathology Flashcards
What is Hyperplasia
increase in size of organ due to increase in number of cells
What is Hypertorphy
Increase in size of cells
What is atrophy
Decrease in number/size of cells
Physiological/Pathological
What is metaplasia
complete transformation of one differentiated cell type into a different differentiated cell type
e.g. Squamous to glandular (oesophagus), glandular to squamous (cervix); columnar to squamous (respiratory)
What is a tumour
Swelling of any sort, usually refers to neoplasm
Benign
Malignant
(Inflammatory)
What is a neoplasm?
abnormal growing mass of tissue (tumour)
What are the types of tumour?
Benign - neoplasm does not invade adjacent tissue or metastasise
Malignant - cancer
What does metastasise mean?
ability of cancer to spread
invade adjacent tissue and grow at other sites within body
What are two factors important in causation of cancers?
Environmental - diet, obesity, exercise, alcohol, smoking
Genetic - chances increase with age
Why is it important to classify tumours?
Understanding tumour behaviour, prognosis and selected therapy
How are tumours classified
Tissue of origin (epithelium, connective tissue,blood, lymphoid tissue, neural tissue, germ cells ….)
Benign vs Malignant
What are the two types of epithelium that can host cancer?
Glandular and squamous
What is carcinoma
epithelium malignant tumour
What is sarcoma
malignant tumour in CT
What are the other types of malignant tumours
Leukaemia – white blood cells
Lymphoma – lymphoid cells
Others – Glioma, myeloma, seminoma, melanoma
What is the name for a benign and malignant squamous epithelium tumour?
Benign - Squamous Papilloma
Malignant - Squamous Carcinoma
What are tumours of the Central nervous system called?
Astrocytoma - benign and malignant tumours concepts don’t exist in CNS - limited space that tumours don’t escape out of
What are the features of benign tumours
Non-invasive growth pattern, usually encapsulates, no evidence of invasion, no metastases
Cells look similar to normal, well-differentiated
Function similar to normal tissue (if normal function os similar)
Rarely causes death
What are the features of malignant tumours?
Invasive growth pattern
No capsule, breached by tumour cells
Often evidence of cancer spread
Cells look abnormal
Cancers are poorly differentiated
Loss of normal function
Frequently cause death
Summary
