Cancer

• First-second most common cause of death in Western world

• One in 2-3 Western people will die of cancer

lezione del dr Cirò

lezione del dr Cirò

clonal

Neoplastic progression

• Benign or malignant neoplasms can acquire increasingly aggressive features

• Most malignant neoplasms arise de novo

• Neoplasms are thought to be preceded by preneoplastic conditions

Metaplasia

an adaptive substitution of one type of adult tissue to another type of adult tissue

under stress a more vulnerable type of tissue will be replaced by another more capable of withstanding stress

Dysplasia

An abnormality in cell size, appearance, with or without a disorganized growth pattern

NeoplasiaA disease of cells characterized by alteration of normalA disease of cells characterized by alteration of normal growth regulatory mechanismsgrowth regulatory mechanisms

Classification-approach

Terminology which is used to describe a mass is based on the clinical, gross and microscopic features-which in combination are a reflection of the predicted/expected biologic behavior

BenignBenign MalignantMalignant??

Invasion and Metastasis

• Characteristics that are unique to malignant neoplasms (cancer)

• The major cause of morbidity and mortality

Cancer Grade• Alternate term “tumor grade” (G0-G3)

• Based on microscopic features (cytology or histology)

low grade moderate high

Cancer Stage• Reflects degree of spread, for an individual cancer

patient• Assigned at the time of diagnosis, may be updated

as patient progressesT Tumor characteristics

N Nodal involvement

M Metastasis

Epidemiologia dei tumori

Il cancro è una malattia genetica

La componente “ambientale” gioca però un ruolo fondamentale:

Sociologia dei tumori

Ereditá dei tumori

• Una componente ereditaria é piú o meno facilmente identificable sia per la predisposizione, che per la insorgenza di diversi tipi di tumori;

• Tumori ereditari: retinoblastoma, adenomatosi familiare del colon, piccola frazione dei tumori mammari/ovarici

• Tumori familiari: manifestazione familiare di tumori esistenti anche in forma sporadica

• Sindromi da difetti nel sistema di riparazione del DNA