Week 2: Cancer Flashcards
Difference between hypertrophy vs hyperplasia
Hypertrophy: cells get BIGGER
Hyperplasia: MORE cells
Difference between metaplasia vs dysplasia
Metaplasia: replacing 1 fully differentiated tissue by other
Dysplasia: Pre-cancerous architectural changes in cell
Is metaplasia/dysplasia reversible
Yes. Both are reversible
What epithelium change occurs in Barrett’s oesophagus
Normal squamous epithelium is replaced by columnar
What 7 types of cancers are particularly associated with smoking
- Lung
- Oropharyngeal
- Oesophageal
- Kidney
- Bladder
- Cervical
- Breast
What cancer is associated with arsenic
Squamous cell carcinoma
What cancer is associated with asbestos
Mesothelioma
How do chemicals/ occupational hazards lead to cancer
- INITIATION: single exposure to carcinogen
- PROMOTION: replication of damaged cell (usually due to multiple exposures)
- PROGRESSION: multiple irreversible complex DNA changes eg changing chromosomes, cell morphology
How does ionising radiation lead to cancer?
Which cancer type
Very high energy displaces electrons and disrupts DNA
Quick-replicating tissues are particularly susceptible (breast, thyroid, bone marrow)
How does non-ionising radiation lead to cancer?
Which cancer type
Less energy compared to ionising radiation.
Still excites electrons and causes change in tissue
eg UV from sun
Which virus(es) are associated with
- Kaposi’s sarcoma
- Castleman’s syndrome
HH8
with a previous HIV infection
Which virus(es) are associated with cervical cancer
HPV 16 and 18
and 31 and 45
Which virus(es) are associated with
- Burkitt’s lymphoma
- Hogkin’s lymphoma
EBV
Which cancer can malaria pre-dispose to
Burkitt’s lymphoma
Which cancers can schistosomiasis pre-dispose to
Bladder
Colon
HCC
Lymphoreticular
Which cancers does the combined OCP reduce risk of
Ovarian and Endometrial
Why does combined OCP not reduce the risk of breast cancer
Combined OCP is used at a time in life when oestrogen is naturally present
What 4 types of cancers are particularly associated with alcohol
- Liver
- GI
- Breast
- Ovarian
Most significant risk factor in development of cancer
Diet
Function of BRCA and PARP1 in cell
BRCA: repairs double stranded mistakes in DNA replication
PARP1: repairs single stranded mistakes in DNA replication
MoA of PARP1 inhibitors
Breast cancer drug
Inhibits division of cancer cells (because BRCA not working and PARP1 inhibited)
MoA of monoclonal Ab (eg Herceptin)
Ab are too big to cross cell membrane ->
bind to extracellular part of TK receptor and block it ->
no signal transduction
MoA of tyrosine kinase inhibitors
Block ATP binding site within cell ->
tyrosine residues are not phosphorylated ->
No second messenger response
Advantage of tyrosine kinase inhibitors over monoclonal Ab
Some cancers have mutated EGFR which can self-dimerise (in absence of stimulus)
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors can stop mutated EGFR because even if they self-dimerise, late pathways are inhibited
Monoclonal Ab have no effect as EGFR will still self-dimerise
