Week 4- Cancer Flashcards
Define tumor
Any kind of mass forming lesion
Define neoplasm
Autonomous growth of tissue that has escaped the constraints of normal cell proliferation
Define benign
Remains localized
Define malignant
Invades locally or at distant sites
How can cancers be defined- use technical vocabulary
As malignant neoplasms
Which cancer doesn’t metastasise?
Basal cell carcinoma
What are harmatomas?
Localized benign overgrowth of mature cell types
What is hetertopia?
Normal tissue that’s growing in the wrong place
How are neoplasms classified?
Primary: cell of origin
Secondary: benign or malignant
What suffix indicates benign?
Oma
What suffix indicates malignant?
Sarcoma or carcinoma
What are cartiledge tumors called?
Chondromas or chondrosarcomas
What type of connective tissue neoplasms are there?
Smooth muscle (leiomyoma or meiomyosarcoma) or bone (osteoma or osteosarcoma)
What types of epithelial neoplasms are there?
Squamous (squamous epithelioma or squamous cell carcinoma)
Glandular (adenoma, adenosarcoma)
Transitional (trasitional papilloma, transitional sarcoma)
What types of haematological neoplasms are there?
Lymphocytes: benign is v uncommon, malignant is called lymphoma
Marrow: benign is v uncommon, malignant is leukaemia (acute lymphoblastic or chronic myeloid)
What are the 2 types of leukaemia?
Chronic myeloid
Acute lymphoblastic
What are teratomas?
Cancers arising from germ cells
What is the difference between dysplasia and cancers?
Dysplasia is not invasive
What 4 cancers are exceptions and are malignant even though they have the suffix ‘oma’?
Lymphoma, melanoma, hepatoma, teratoma
What are key differences to look for in benign vs malignant tumors?
Metastases: malignant cells all have the ability to metastasize
Invasion: is there direct invasion to adjacent cells?
Differentiation: how similar are the tumor cells to the cells they arose from
Growth pattern: how similar is the architecture of the tumor to the tissue it arose from?
How may tumor cells look different to normal cells?
They often have larger nuclei and more mitoses
What are the routes by which neoplasms spread?
Heamatogenous: blood vessels (usually capillaries and veins as they have thin walls)
Perineural: via nerves
Transcoelomic: via body cavity (pleural and peritoneal)
Direct extension
How is tumor spread described?
Tumor size (0-3)
Lymph nodes involved (0-2)
Metastases (0-1/X)
What is the difference between grade and stage when describing the tumor? Which is more important?
Grade: how differentiated the tumor is
Stage: how far the tumor has spread
Stage is more important
