Cancer Therapy Flashcards
Name 3 Hallmarks of Cancer
- Genomically unstable
- Stimulate their own proliferation
- Replicative immortality
- Ignore negative signals
- Resist cell death
- Induce angiogenesis
- Activating invasion and metastasis
- Avoid immune destruction
- Altered metabolism
What are the steps prior to treatment
- Self detection/referral
- Diagnosis
- Surgery/Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy or Supportive care
What does Diagnosis involve
- Disease site
- Staging
- Histology/genetics
What sort of treatment is given if its curative
Aggressive Treatment
Define Neoadjuvant
Treatment given before surgery to decrease tumour size
Define Adjuvant
Treatment given after surgery or with radiotherapy to “mop up”/clean any cancer cells
Define palliative care
Given to prolong life and reduce symptoms
Define Monotherapy treatment
Treatment of a disease with a single drug
Define Combination treatment
Treatment of a disease with two or more drugs
Treatment consists of which two factors
Systemic (form) and Regional (where in the body)
What important factors to consider when conducting patient specific dosing
- Body surface area (mg/m2)
- Mg/kg
- Flat dosing
- Area under the curve (AUC) - renal function
Important factors to consider about a particular patient
- Performance status
- Age
- Previous treatment (avoid toxicity)
- Co-morbidities (simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient)
- Polypharmacy (Use of multiple medicines)
What are the different treatment routes
- NICE approved NHSE funded
- CDF funded
- Clinical trials
- Compassionate use
- Early access to medicines scheme (EAMS)
- Self fund
What are the different ways treatment can be monitored
- Physical examination
- Scans (x-rays, PET scans, CT scans etc.)
- Blood tests (organ function)
- Tumor marker test
What are the 4 ways treatment responses can be defined
- Complete response
- Partial response
- Stable disease
- Disease progression
