Neoplasia

Question 1

Describe gross appearance of benign tumour

Answer 1

1. Well circumscribed
2. Surrounded by capsule (if applicable)
3. No haemorrhage, no necrosis
4. Large rounded nodule that is pale/tan.
5. No invasion

Question 2

Describe gross appearance of malignant tumour

Answer 2

1. Irregular and ill-defined nodule
2. Invasion into surrounding or possibly adjacent organs
3. Possibly will have necrosis and haemorrhage
4. Invasion beyond the basement membrane

Question 3

Describe histological appearance of benign tumour

Answer 3

1. Well-differentiated (can make out structures)
2. Regular structures closely resembling normal tissue
3. Few mitoses

Question 4

Describe histological appearance of malignant tumour

Answer 4

1. Poorly differentiated
2. Irregular structures
3. A lot of mitoses
4. Nuclear pleomorphism (diff size nuclei)
5. Maybe got haemorrhage and necrosis

Question 5

How would you name a malignant tumour of the epithelial tissue?

Answer 5

Carcinoma

Question 6

How would you name a malignant tumour of the glandular tissue?

Answer 6

Adenocarcinoma

Question 7

How would you name a malignant tumour of the squamous tissue?

Answer 7

Squamous cell carcinoma

Question 8

How would you name a malignant tumour of the mesenchymal tissue?

Answer 8

Sarcoma

Question 9

How would you name a malignant tumour of the bone?

Answer 9

Osteosarcoma

Question 10

How would you name a malignant tumour of the blood vessel?

Answer 10

Angiosarcoma

Question 11

How would you name a malignant tumour of the lymph vessel?

Answer 11

Lymphangiosarcoma

Question 12

How would you name a malignant tumour of the smooth muscle?

Answer 12

Leiomyosarcoma

Question 13

How would you name a malignant tumour of the skeletal muscle?

Answer 13

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Question 14

How would you name a malignant tumour of the cartilage?

Answer 14

Chondrosarcoma

Question 15

How would you name a malignant tumour of fat?

Answer 15

Liposarcoma

Question 16

List at least 3 local effects of cancer

Answer 16

1. Ulceration and perforation
2. Bleeding
3. Obstruction
4. Torsion
5. Compression (esp in the brain)
6. Tissue destruction

Question 17

List at least 2 endocrine effects of cancer

Answer 17

1. Endocrine tumour producing excessive hormones
2. Loss of hormone producing function
3. ** Paraneoplastic syndrome - tumour produce hormones it is not supposed to produce.

Question 18

Define paraneoplastic syndrome

Answer 18

Group of clinical disorders associated with malignant diseases that are not directly related to the physical effects of the primary of metastatic tumour.

Question 19

List at least 3 signs of cancer

Answer 19

1. **UNEXPLAINED WEIGHT LOSS
2. **NON-TENDER ENLARGED LYMPH NODES
3. Chronic fatigue
4. Poor appetite
5. Frequent nausea and vomiting

Question 20

What is prognosis?

Answer 20

A prognosis is your doctor’s best estimate of how cancer will affect you and how it will respond to treatment.

Forecasting the likely outcome of the cancer based on grading and stage.

Question 21

What is cancer staging?

Answer 21

Staging is base on the size and/or extent of the tumour growth.

T: tumour (for solid organs, its the size of tumour. for non-solid, its extent of tumour growth)

N: nodules (spread to lymph nodes, NO-N3)

M: metastasis (to other organs, M0 or M1)

Question 22

If I do staging and grading for this patient, what does that imply of their tumour?

Answer 22

MALIGNANT

Staging and grading ONLY done if cancer is malignant

Question 23

What is cancer grading?

Answer 23

Degree of differentiation of the tumour and assessed microscopically by pathologist.

Low grade = well differentiated
- glands are well formed and easy to mark out
- likely better prognosis

High grade = poorly differentiated
- glands are irregular and hard to make out
- high pleomorphism
- likely poor prognosis