Cancer Care Flashcards
Explain the difference between benign tumours and malignant tumours?
Benign are non cancerous and grow slowly, are well defined, removed surgically and are non reoccurring typically.
Malignant are cancerous, grow rapidly, spread to other areas of the body through the blood stream.
Side effects of chemotherapy?
Unexplained bruising
Nausea and vomiting
Hair loss
Fatigue
Increase risk of infection.
Constipation or diarrhoea
Skin sensitivity and paleness
Pain.
What are the symptoms of blood malignancies?
Bone pain, anaemia, night sweats or fever, poor-clotting and chest pain.
What is the function of the immune system?
Protection regulation transportation.
Recognising harmful pathogens, where foreign antigens trigger immune system response.
What are the 4 response symptoms to tissue damage essential to wound healing?
Redness - rubor
Heat - calor
Swelling - tumor
Pain - dolor
What do damaged cells in inflammatory response cause?
They cause mast cells to release histamines causing vasodilation to increase bloodflow (red/heat) to bring more blood to promote wound healing.
What do histamines do in the inflammatory response?
They increase vascular permeability as plasma leaks from capillaries into damaged area causing swelling which releases white blood cells and clotting agents. Pressure on nerves causes pain.
What are anatomical barriers?
Anatomical barriers are the first line of defence against pathogens entering the body; skin, stomach acid, mucus, earwax.
What is the complement system?
Circulating proteins that destroy bacteria and activate the specific immune system.
What are white blood cells called, they types, and what do they do?
Leukocytes (WBC’s) types include: neutrophils - first responders and engulf bacteria and fungi.
Lymphocytes- regulate immune response and produce antibodies to target pathogens.
Explain blood cancer?
Blood contents of WBC, RBC and platelets, these cells do not die and replace as normal but divide and grow too quickly. some are acute and some chronic taking longer for the cancer to develop.
What are some signs and symptoms of blood cancer?
Unexplained bruising
Joint pain
Fatigue
Fever
Rashes
Night sweats
Frequent infections
Shortness of breath
Lumps and swelling
Unexplained weight loss
Pallor/ paleness.
What is cytotoxic?
Cytotoxic chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells or slow their growth. This damages cells, therefore any treatment should be given through central line to avoid tissue/ cell damage.
Cancer symptoms
Fatigue
Bleeding
Anemia
Infections
Bone pain
Swollen lymph nodes in lymphoma
Organ damage and tissue damage
3 Cancers of the blood?
Leukemia - WBC and bone marrow
Melanoma- plasma and bone marrow
Lymphoma in lymph nodes
What are neutrophils?
They create antibodies and are a form of white blood cells
What are malignancies?
A disruption of the blood cell formation.
