Chapter 19 - Key Vocabs Flashcards
Adjuvant chemotherapy
- Assisting primary treatment
2. Drugs are given after primary therapy (surgery or radiation)
Alkylating agents
- Chemotherapeutic synthetic drugs that cause crosslinks and breaks in DNA to stop cells from dividing
- Directly damage DNA to prevent the cancer cell from reproducing
Anaplasis
Loss of differentiation of cells. No organization, and not specialized cells either.
Angiogenesis
Process of forming new blood vessels
Antibiotics
Chemotherapeutic synthetic drugs found in bacteria and fungi, which cause breaks in DNA strands to inhibit cell division.
Antimetabolites
Chemotherapeutic agents that:
- Prevent cell division
- Inhibit formation of substances needed to make DNA. Blocks the synthesis of DNA components.
Antimitotics
- Chemotherapeutic chemicals that block the function of a protein necessary for mitosis (cell division).
- Mitotic inhibitors are often plant alkaloids and other compounds derived from natural products.
Apoptosis
Programmed cell death
Benign tumor
Noncancerous growth (neoplasm)
Biological response modifiers
- Produced by normal cells
2. Directly block tumor growth or stimulate immune system to fight cancer
Biological therapy
Use of the body’s own defenses to destroy tumor cells
Brachtherapy
Use of radiation placed directly on or within the cancer
Carcinogens
Agents that cause cancer
Carcinoma
Cancerous tumor made up of cells of epithelial origin
Cellular oncogenes
Pieces of DNA, activated by mutations or dislocations, that can cause a normal cell to become malignant
Chemotherapy
Treatment with drugs
Combination chemotherapy
Use of several chemotherapeutic agents together in treatment of tumors
Dedifferentiation
Loss of differentiation of cells. Less specialized and lack orderly arrangement (anaplastic)
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
- Genetic material within the nucleus of a cell
2. Controls cell division and protein synthesis
Differentiating agents
Drugs that promote tumor cells to differentiate, stop growing, and die
Differentiation
Specialization of cells
Electron beams
Low-energy beams of radiation for treatment of skin or surface tumors
Encapsulated
Surrounded by a capsule; benign tumors are encapsulated
External beam irradiation
Applying radiation to a tumor from a source outside the body
Fields
Dimensions of body areas undergoing irradiation
Fractionation
Giving radiation in small, repeated doses
Genetic screening
Testing family members to determine if they have inherited a cancer-causing gene
Grading tumors
Evaluating the degree of maturity of tumor cells
Gray (gy)
Unit of absorbed radiation dose
Gross description of tumors
Visual appearances of tumors to the naked eye
Hormonal agents
- These drugs block hormone receptors on cells so that the growth is inhibited.
- These are sex hormone or hormone-like drugs that change the action or production of female or male hormones.
