PATH 3610 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Paraneoplastic Syndrome, Cellular Differentiation, Cellular Adaptation

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Pathology
• Course: PATH 3610
• Professor: Andrew Vice

Document Summary

The term neoplasia refers to an abnormality in cellular differentiation, maturation and control of growth, it can be considered excessive and disorganized cell or tissue growth that is unresponsive to normal growth control mechanisms. The result of these abnormalities is the development of a tumour or neoplasm, a mass of abnormal tissue. In the unit on chronic inflammation and repair, we described permanent, stable and labile cell types. It is obvious that many of the body"s cells retain the ability to grow, divide and differentiate throughout life. This growth and differentiation is controlled, such that the normal structure of a particular tissue is maintained. For the normal structure of a tissue to be maintained, the rate of cell proliferation must balance with the rate of differentiation (leading to cell death). If there is a discrepancy between these rates, then the tissue will become abnormal, both at the gross and histologic level.