WK 12- BREAST, LUNG, AND COLON CANCER Flashcards
What are the 3 types of neoplasia of the breast
- Benign neoplasia
- non invasive carcinoma
- invasive carcinoma
What are the 2 types of non invasive carcinoma
Lobular and ductal
Where is the most common location of tumours within the breast
Upper outer quadrant
What are the risk factors for breast cancer
age and female gender, estrogen exposure (early menarche, nullparity, late menopause, oral contraceptive pill, HRT), high calorie intake during childhood and adolescence, obesity, excessive alcohol during adolescence
what are the protective factors against breast cancer
parity (having had children) and breast feeding
What genes are involved in inherited breast cancer
BRCA 1/2 mutations
What genes are involved in sporadic breast cancer
HER2 over expression
What are the 4 molecular subtypes of breast cancer
ER positive, HER2 negative, HER2 positive and ER pos/neg, Triple neg ( ER neg, HER2 neg and progesterone negative)
What is meant by triple negative breast cancer
- triple negative cancer cells lack receptors for estrogen, progesterone and HER2
- these have a poor prognosis for treatment with hormone treatments (receptor targeted treatments) but a good response to chemotherapy
What does median survival mean
measure of central tendency (most common outcome/prognosis)
What is the 5 year survival
percentage based on population of patients who have cancer
What are the clinical features that a pt with breast cancer presents with
Present with screen detected cancers and other features such as a palpable mass, skin tethering, nipple discharge
What factors influence the prognosis of breast cancer
Dependent on both the biologic type of cancer (molecular or histologic type) and the extent of cancer at the time of diagnosis
-large tumour size, higher grade, lymph node metastases, ER and PR -ve are poor prognostic factors (eg triple negative)
How is early breast cancer management
- Surgery- wide local excision and sentinel node biopsy
- Adjuvant radiotherapy after breast conservation to prevent local recurrence (radio after surgery to treat micrometastasis)
- Hormone receptor blockers: if a tumour has receptors to oestrogen/progesterone (ER+, HER2+, Progesterone+) it will feed off these hormones and grow- blocking these receptors can prevent tumour growth
What medicates are used in HER2+ patients
Trastuzamab/herceptin- monocloncal antibody that binds to and blocks the HER2 gene to prevent over expression and EGFR
How are locally advanced breast cancers treated
cancers that are fixed to the pec muscle or skin they are considered inoperable so are treated with neoadjuvant approach to make them operable (treat with chemo/radiotherapy to make them operable) and control micrometastatic disease
How is metastatic breast cancer treated
Cannot be cured, but symptomatic relief through anti-estrogen and radiotherapy can be provided
What are the 2 morphological subgroups that invasive carcinomas can be put in
- 2/3 are grouped together and called “ductal” or no special type
- 1/3 can be classified morphologically into special histologic types, some of which are strongly associated with clinically relevant biologic characteristics
What is the most common malignant tumour in the lung
metastasis from another primary cancer- most commonly breast, kidney, uterus, melanoma, colorectal, testes and thyroid
What are the risk factors for lung cancer, apart from smoking
Exposure to arsenic, radiation, iron oxide, coal mining
What genetic mutations occur to cause lung cancer
- activation of oncogenes EGFR, K-Ras, Myc, EML4-ALK
- inactivation of tumour suppressor genes→ 3p, 9p, p16, 13q, 17P and TP53 (bolded are most common)