3.3 treatment options for cancer Flashcards
what are the treatment options for cancer
- surgery
- chemotherapy
- radiation therapy
- combination therapy
- blood transfusion
what needs to be considered when deciding treatment for patients?
- toxicity to patient
- efficancy (produce desired result?)
- likelyhood of reoccurance
- patients wishes (short term gain or life/experimental therapy)
- disruption to patients life
- cost
- type of administration (hospital stay required?)
what cancers cannot be treated by surgery?
- leukemias
- lymphomas
- they are bloodborne and will be too widely spread at the time of diagnosis
what are the reasons of having surgery on cancer
- Diagnosis
- Prevention
- Curing
- Controlling
- Reconstruction
what can be done to diagnose cancer
- biopsies
- surgeon may remove a small piece of tissue from the abnormal area.
- If the biopsy contains cancer cells, it can show what type of cancer it is and how slowly or quickly it may grow
what can be done to prevent cancer if you are at high risk of a particular type of cancer?
- have surgery to reduce the risk
- e.g. Women who have a high risk of breast cancer may choose to have their breasts removed (mastectomy).
why is surgery a local treatment
- only treats the part of the body operated on
- may cure cancer that is completely contained in one area and hasn’t spread
- Lymph nodes surrounding it are often removed as they may contain cancerous cells
what do surgons remove when they operate
- the tumour and some normal tissue from around it (known as a clear margin). They are looking for a Negative (clear) margin.
- Surgeons send the tissue to the laboratory, where it is looked at under a microscope
- gives more info about the cancer
what can surgery to to relieve cancer symptoms- unlikely to cure it but can help patients live longer
- help to control pain by removing cancer that is pressing on a body organ or nerve.
- relieve symptoms if cancer has spread into nearby organs or to another part of the body.
- cancer cannot be completely cured
reconstructive surgery
if you have to get a body part removed- it may be possible to get reconstructive surgery.
what does chemotherapy do?
- a cancer treatment where medication is used to kill cancer cells
- stop cancer cells from reproducing; preventing them from spreading and growing.
what are the most common types of chemotherapy?
- Chemotherapy given into a vein (intravenous chemotherapy) – this is usually done in hospital
- Chemotherapy tablets (oral chemotherapy) – this usually involves taking a course of medication at home, with regular check-ups in hospital
what are the 4 types of Intravenous chemotherapy
- into your blood through an IV
- Injection into a muscle or skin
- Injection into the spinal fluid (intrathecal)
- Into a body space (intracavitary)
advantages of oral chemotherapy
- Patient convenience
- Flexibility in timing
- Flexibility of location of administration
- Flexibility of drug exposure by providing more prolonged therapy compared with intermittent IV exposure.
disadvantages of oral chemotherapy
- Chemotherapy tablets, capsules or injections may need to be stored in a particular way, such as in the fridge.
- All drugs must be stored out of the reach of children and other adults as they could cause serious harm if taken by accident.
what is radiotherapy
- At high doses, radiation therapy kills cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their DNA.
- Cancer cells whose DNA is damaged beyond repair stop dividing or die. When the damaged cells die, they are broken down and removed by the body.
- takes time for cancer cells to be killed
what are the 2 types of radiation therapy
- external beam radiation therapy
- internal radiation therapy
what is external beam radiation
- machine aims radiation at your cancer
- local treatment- only works ina specific part of the body
- e.g. if you have cancer in your lung, you will have radiation only on your chest.
what is internal radiation therapy?
- a source of radiation is put into your body either solid or liquid
- liquid sources are systemic therapy
what is combination therapy?
Use of a combination of two or more different drugs simultaneously.
pros of combination therapy
Since chemotherapy drugs affect cancer cells at different points in the cell cycle, using a combination of drugs increases the chance that all of the cancer cells will be eliminated.
cons of combination therapy
Using more than one drug has the disadvantage of increasing the risk of drug interactions, and if there is a problem, it may be hard to know which drug was at fault.
