Cancer Chemotherapy Overview - Ch 101-103 Flashcards

1
Q

What is Cancer?

A
  • Cellular transformation (loss of function)
  • Uncontrolled and/or rapid cellular growth
  • Invasion into surrounding tissue
  • Metastasis to other tissues or organs
    -by blood or lymphatic system
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2
Q

Where can cancer develop?

A

Virtually any of the body’s tissues
-Categorized by organ origin or original cell type

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3
Q

What contribute to cancer development?

A

Hereditary and environmental factors

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4
Q

Neoplasm

A

β€œnew Tissue”
Mass of new cells; tumour

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5
Q

Benign

A

NON-cancerous
=Non-invasive + non-metastatic

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6
Q

Malignant

A

Cancer
-Malignant neoplasm

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7
Q

Primary lesion

A

Original site of growth

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8
Q

Matastasis

A

Secondary lesion in a new, remote part of the body

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9
Q

How does Chemotherapy kill cells?

A

Affects cell division/growth
-Not on loss of function, invasiveness or metastasis

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10
Q

What kind of therapeutic index do chemotherapy drugs have?

A

Narrow therapeutic index
-ratio between concentration of drug that has
toxic effect and therapeutic effect is small

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11
Q

What may develop with chemotherapy?

A

Drug resistance

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12
Q

What are some Cytotoxic chemotherapy drug groups?

A

Alkylating agents and platinum compoud
Antimetabolite drugs
Antitumour antibiotics

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13
Q

How are alkylating agents and platinum compounds cytotoxic?

A

Drugs form chemical bonds to DNA thus prevent DNA replication and cause cell death

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14
Q

How are antimetabolite drugs cytotoxic?

A

Prevent synthesis of metabolites required for growth

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15
Q

How are antitumour antibiotics (not for infections) cytotoxic?

A

Distort DNA structure

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16
Q

What are cytotoxic drugs harmful to?

A

All dividing cells (cancerous cells) AND to healthy normal cells
-hair cells, GI cells, bone marrow cells

17
Q

What do nearly all cytotoxic drugs cause?

A

Significant adverse effects

18
Q

What adverse effects are associated with cytotoxic drugs?

A

Severe vomiting, nausea
Diarrhea, oral ulcers (GI mucosa damage)
Bone marrow suppression

19
Q

What can bone marrow suppression lead to?

A

Infection risk (neutropenia)
Bleeding risk (loss of circulating platelets)
Anemia

20
Q

Dose-limiting adverse effects may prevent what?

A

Drug being administered in high enough doses to actually kill cancer cells

21
Q

What is used to avoid chemo drug resistance/increased effectiveness?

A

Multiple drug therapy

22
Q

What other drugs (not cancer chemotherapy) are used in cancer treatment?

A

Hormones
Hormone antagonists
Biologic response modifiers e.g immunotherapy
Targeted drugs

23
Q

Targeted drugs

A

Bind to cancer-promoting molecules

24
Q

What are other cancer treatments?

A

Surgery (remove cancer tissue)
Radiation therapy

25
Q

Radiation therapy

A

High energy radiation damages cancer cell DNA causing it to die
-external radiation beam source
-internal source implanted into/near cancer