What is cancer? Flashcards
(24 cards)
What type of cancers do children get?
Blood, brain and bone (not epithelial).
What lymph nodes does testicular cancer spread to and why?
Para-aortic nodes due to embryology (starts in abdomen).
Where do breast cancers metastasise to?
Bone, brain, adrenal, liver.
Where does prostate cancer metastasise to?
Anywhere.
What is the defining feature of sarcomas?
Local growth.
Is lymphatic spread common in sarcomas?
No, it is very rare.
What types of tumours form spindle cell lesions and what are they?
Sarcomas, very long elongated tapered shape to cells.
What patterns do sarcomas tend to follow?
The ones in textbooks.
What are the common genetic anomalies in sarcomas?
Specific large translocations.
What is the translocation in Ewing’s sarcoma?
t(11;22).
What do the nuclei of sarcomas look like?
Cigar shaped.
What is the differences between lymphomas and leukaemias?
Same cells different locations.
Where do lymphomas tend to pop up?
Large lymph nodes (often superficial) across areas that don’t fit with anatomical drainage of an epithelial malignancy.
What organs may lymphomas involve?
The liver and spleen (organomegaly).
What are the symptoms of bone marrow involvement of lymphoma?
Malignant cells replace everything else so you make less red cells, platelets, granulocytes and normal B cells.
In lymphomas/leukaemias, when would FBC be high and low?
High - cells are abnormal.
Low - marrow involvement.
What are the B-symptoms of lymphomas/leukaemias?
Sweating (particularly night sweats), weight loss.
What do lymphomas look down the microscope?
Monotonous and clonal in contrast to other tumours.
Give an example of a neuroectoderm tumour.
Melanoma.
What are primary brain tumours often referred to as?
Gliomas.
Why is nothing really benign in the brain?
Enclosed space so an expansion in size will affect surrounding structure.
Why do primary brain cancers not metastasise?
The BBB.
What is the spectrum of primary brain cancers?
Grade 1-3.
In the future, what will classification of tumours be based on?
Molecular abnormalities.
