Tumour Pathology Flashcards
Leukaemia is a tumour of
Red blood cells/White blood cells
and is
Benign/Malignant
White blood cells
Malignant
Tumour of the lymphoid tissue causes
Lymphoma (malignant)
A benign tumour of the melanocytes can cause
Naevus (mole)
A malignant tumour of the melanocytes can cause
Melanoma
State a malignant tumour of the central nervous system.
Astrocytoma
State a malignant tumour of the peripheral nervous system.
Schwannoma
State what tumour suppressor genes do.
A gene that protects the cell from cancer.
State 3 cancers that can occur due to loss of tumour suppressor genes.
Retinoblastoma (Rb) - Cancer of the retina in young children
Adenomatous polyposis (APC) - Cell adhesion protein
BRCA1 - Breast cancer
State what is meant by an ‘oncogene’
A gene that has the potential to cause cancer
Give some examples of oncogenes. (5)
- BRaf
- Cyclin D1
- ErbB2
- Myc
- KRas and NRas
Describe how cancer can alter cellular function.
- Loss of cell-to-cell adhesion
- Altered cell-to-matrix adhesion
- Production of tumour-related proteins, such as biomarkers :
- Onco-fetal proteins
- Oncogenes
- Growth factors and receptors
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors
State what the clinical biomarker alpha-fetoprotein does.
Screens for teratoma of testes and hepatocellular carcinoma
State what the clinical biomarker carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) does.
Screens for colorectal cancer
State what the clinical biomarker oestrogen receptor does.
Screens for breast cancer
State what the clinical biomarker prostate specific antigen does.
Screens for prostate cancer
Tumour growth is a balance between
Apoptosis and angiogenesis
What do more blood vessels in a tumour do to the prognosis?
Makes the prognosis worse
State 4 modes of spread of cancer
- Blood spread
- Local spread
- Lymphatic spread
- Trans-coelomic spread
Define the term ‘metastasis’.
When cancer spreads to different part of the body from where it originated.
State some common sites of metastasis.
Bone - Axial skeleton Brain Liver Lung Adrenal gland Momentum/peritoneum
State some uncommon sites of metastasis.
Spleen
Kidney
Skeletal muscle
Heart
Describe trans-coelomic spread of cancer.
- Special form of local spread
- Spreading of tumour cells across body cavities
- Tumours of lung, stomach, colon and ovary show trans-coelomic spread
State some common metastatic relations. (4)
- Breast cancer leads to metastasis in the bone
- Prostate cancer leads to metastasis in the bone
- Colorectal cancer leads to metastasis in the liver
- Ovarian cancer leads to metastasis in the omentum
