Inflammation, Cell Cycle, and Neoplasia Review

Flashcards covering key concepts of inflammation presentations, cell cycle and regeneration, and neoplasia (benign vs malignant tumors, dissemination, and carcinogenesis).

What does anorexia mean in medical terms?

Lack of appetite.

What is somnolence?

Extreme sleepiness or drowsiness.

What is malaise?

A general feeling of being unwell or not feeling right.

What is sepsis?

A systemic infection of the blood, with organ involvement and potential organ failure.

What is the acute phase response?

The whole-body inflammatory response that engages systemic changes early in inflammation.

What is lymphadenitis?

Inflammation of lymph nodes, often presenting as swollen nodes.

What does the G0 phase represent?

A resting state in which cells are not preparing to divide and perform normal functions.

What are the major phases of the cell cycle (excluding G0)?

G1, S, G2, and M (mitosis).

What happens during mitosis and cytokinesis?

The nucleus divides (mitosis) and the cytoplasm divides (cytokinesis), yielding two identical daughter cells.

What is proliferation?

Increase in cell number, usually by mitosis.

What is differentiation?

The process by which cells become specialized and develop the right proteins and machinery to perform their job.

What is apoptosis?

Programmed cell death; the cell's controlled self-destruction.

What are labile cells?

Cells that constantly divide and never stay in G0 (e.g., skin, GI tract, bone marrow).

What are stable cells?

Cells that reside in G0 most of the time but can re-enter the cell cycle to divide as needed.

What are permanent (amycrotic) cells?

Cells that never divide after they are formed.

What does neoplasia mean?

New, abnormal growth; tumor formation.

What does the suffix -oma indicate, and give an example?

A benign tumor; example: lipoma (benign adipose tissue tumor).

What does the suffix -carcinoma indicate?

A malignant epithelial (cancerous) tumor.

What does the suffix -sarcoma indicate?

A malignant mesenchymal (connective tissue) tumor.

What is the relationship between tumors and cancer?

All cancers are tumors, but not all tumors are cancers.

What are the characteristics of benign tumors?

Well-differentiated cells, slow growth, often encapsulated with clear margins, do not metastasize; may compress adjacent tissue.

What are the characteristics of malignant tumors?

Anaplastic/poorly differentiated, invasive, may invade and destroy surrounding tissue, can metastasize, often lack a capsule.

How can malignant tumors spread directly?

Direct invasion into adjacent tissues, breaking through surrounding tissue and margins.

What is tumor seeding?

Tumor cells shed into body cavities or fluids and implant on other surfaces.

What is metastasis?

Spread of cancer cells to distant sites via blood or lymph, forming new tumors.

What is carcinogenesis?

The process of cancer development; 'creation of cancer'.

What are the three phases of carcinogenesis and their meanings?

Initiation (damage causing mutation), Promotion (mutated cells are stimulated to divide), Progression (additional changes drive cancer growth).

What is a complete carcinogen?

A substance that both mutates cells and promotes cancer development.

What is the difference between osteoma and osteosarcoma?

Osteoma is a benign bone tumor; osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor.

What is a lipoma?

A benign tumor of adipose tissue.

What does 'anaplastic' mean?

Poorly differentiated tumor cells; immature in appearance.

Why is encapsulation of benign tumors clinically useful?

Capsule around the tumor provides clear margins, aiding complete surgical removal.