Cancer Flashcards
cancer cells are…
- cells that have escaped control of normal cell growth
- cells that multiply autonomously
- cells that have capacity to spread and reproduce distantly
what makes cancer cells so dangerous
their ability to spread to distant areas of the body
common sites of metastatic spread in breast cancer
- lymph nodes
- lung
- bone
- liver
- skin
- chest wall
- brain
common sites of metastatic spread in colecrectal/pancreatic cancer
- liver
- brain
- bone
- lymph nodes
common sites of metastatic spread in lung cancer
- bone
- liver
- lymph nodes
common sites of metastatic spread in prostate cancer
- bone
- liver
- lungs
goal of therapy
- prevention
- cure
- control
- palliation
goal of therapy: prevention
- most important
- modifiable factors (exercise, diet, smoking)
- screening
goal of therapy: cure
- not talked about much
- cancer becoming a chronic illness
- leukaemia, testicular, early staged
goal of therapy: control
- primary goal
- most talked about
types of therapy
- primary
- adjuvant
- neoadjuvant
primary therapy
- major modality
- not always first
adjuvant therapy
- along with/in addition to primary modality
neoadjuvant therpay
- before primary therapy
- chemo to shrink a tumor
types of treatment measures
- chemotherapy
- radiation
- surgery
- hormone therapy
- biologic therapies
cancer/lump assessment info
- health/family hx
- lump characteristics (pain, size)
- surrounding tissue changes
- medications
- lifestyle factors
- pregnancy/children/LMP
characteristics of malignant cells (8)
- loss of cell cycle control
- loss of contact inhibition
- no cell function, only replication
- can change how they look
- can digest extracellular matrix
- are smart
- can evade apoptosis
- can secrete own growth factor can create own blood supply
PUO
- primary unknown origin
- dont know where cancer came from
- hard to determine best treatment
liver cancer treatment
- can be treated with same regimen used for lung cancer depending on biopsy
tumor staging
degree of spread
tumor grading
aggressiveness of cell
TNM staging
T = tumor size (T1-T4 higher # is bigger) N = nodal involvement (N0, N1, N2; none, some, many) M = distant metastasis (M0, M1, Mx; none, present, not assessed)
what does TNM describe
- size and extent of spread
grading levels
- GX
- G1
- G2
- G3
- G4
- more differentiated = less aggressive
