Cancer Overview

Question 1

What is a tumour?

Answer 1

Any type of mass forming lesion.

Question 2

What are the types of tumour?

Answer 2

Neoplastic
Hamartomatous
Inflammatory

Question 3

What is a neoplastic tumour?

Answer 3

The autonomous growth of tissue which have escaped normal constraints on cell proliferation.
(A tumour that is part of a cancer related process)

Question 4

What is a hamartomatous tumour?

Answer 4

Hamartomas are localised benign overgrowths of one or more mature cell types e.g. in the lung.
They represent architectural but not cytological abnormalities (no changes in nucleus:cytoplasm ratio)

Question 5

What is an inflammatory tumour a result of?

Answer 5

Can be a result of an allergy which can causes oedematous swollen tumours, e.g. nasal polyps.

Question 6

What type of neoplasm is cancer?

Answer 6

A malignant neoplasm.

Question 7

What is a fibroadenoma?

Answer 7

A fibroadenoma is a breast mass that can be moved around as it isn’t stuck to any skin or muscles but it is benign. If it were to stick to the skin/muscle, this would indicate that it is invading locally.

Question 8

Do all malignant tumours cause death? Why?

Answer 8

Many malignant tumours rarely cause death (especially skin cancers) due to a very low chance of metastasising (and so can be removed).

Question 9

Are all benign tumours safe?

Answer 9

Some benign tumours do kill, usually because of their location, e.g. the brain, which may press on vital structures.

Question 10

What are heterotopias?

Answer 10

Heterotopias are normal tissues being found in parts of the body where they are not normally present.
For example, pancreatic cells in the wall of the large intestine.

Question 11

How do we classify neoplasms?

Answer 11

A primary description based on cell origin and a secondary description based on its malignancy.

Question 12

What does the suffix “-oma” denote?

Answer 12

Benign tumours.

Question 13

What are the exceptions to the “-oma” rule?

Answer 13

Lymphoma;
Melanoma;
Hepatoma;
Teratoma (though not all)
...are malignant.

Question 14

What does the suffix “-sarcoma” denote?

Answer 14

The suffix “-sarcoma” is a malignant soft cell tumour.

Question 15

What are teratomas?

Answer 15

Teratomas are tumours derived from germ cells and can contain tissue derived from all three germ cell layers.
They contain mature and/or immature tissues and even cancers.