Neoplasia

• Upon completion of this case, students will be able to describe the role of oncogenes in the generation of cancers and be able to describe the importance of pathology in the diagnosis and management of cancer.
• Upon completion of this case, students will apply their understanding of hereditary cancer to the clinical management and psychosocial issues of a family with hereditary breast cancer.
• Upon completion of this case, students will be able to contrast sporadic and hereditary patho-genetic mechanisms in colorectal cancer and discuss the role of adjuvant chemotherapy and surveillance after surgery.
• Upon completion of this case, students will be able to define palliative care and describe the role of palliative care in the setting of complex cancer patients.
• Upon completion of this case, student will be able to describe the role of viruses in oncogenesis, and the potential role of vaccines in cancer prevention. Students will be able to describe the characteristics of an effective population screening program and the mechanisms by which screening can reduce the burden of cancer. Students will be able to describe broadly the differences in the incidence of common cancers in Canada compared to worldwide.
• Explain the mechanism of cancer initiation by oncogenes.
• Describe the importance of tissue biopsy in the diagnosis and management of cancer.
• Describe how imaging can be used to determine tumour response.
• Explore the hereditary mechanisms in colorectal cancer.
• Describe the concept of and role for “adjuvant chemotherapy”.
• Describe the concept of tumour surveillance in certain at-risk patients.
• Define “palliative care” and "allow natural death" order.
• Describe the role of community palliative care services.
• Recognize the role of Clinical Practice Guidelines in determining treatment options.
• List environmental and lifestyle factors that influence the risk for gastrointestinal cancers.
• Describe the mechanism and features of viral oncogenesis.
• List HPV and other viral associated cancers.
• Describe the available HPV vaccines and their efficacy.
• List risk factors for cervical cancer.
• Report the incidence of cervical cancer in Canada and worldwide.
• Identify the risk factors for malignant melanoma.
• Describe the principles of standard surgical management of a primary malignant melanoma.
• Describe the goals of “sentinel lymph node biopsy” in malignant melanoma.
• Identify current “adjuvant” therapy for malignant melanoma.
• Define “primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention” and describe how these terms can be applied to malignant melanoma.
• Describe a potential experimental therapy for metastatic melanoma and describe the challenges and limitations of using experimental therapies.
• Discuss some of the practical and/or ethical dilemmas involved when a patient wants access to a novel or experimental therapy (eg. cost, access, availability, trial eligibility, co-morbidities, etc.)
• Describe the unique aspects/mechanism of retroviruses, specifically HIV.
• Describe how viruses such as HIV virus selectively infect certain cell types.
• Differentiate between HIV infection and AIDS.
• Describe how the microbiological differential for respiratory infections in an immunocompromised host varies from that of an immunocompetent individual.
• Describe the spectrum of herpes viruses and their associated diseases.