Common Cancers and Staging Flashcards
Top 3 cancers in Australia?
- Breast Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
(they are also the most common sites to cause spinal cord compression)
What are common treatments of breast cancer?
Surgery (primary), Chemotherapy, EBRT with tangential fields, IMRT/VMAT
these treatments increase survivability
How is the breast usually planned?
Tangential fields. Field usually encompasses the whole breast with a 2cm air gap (margin). This allows for breathing (when the chest rises and falls anteriorly). Also accounts for swelling of the breast.
What is the equipment used for immobilization of a breast patient?
Prone breast board Supine breast board Wingboard Kevlar/Fibre glass board for MRI machines Knee bolster
What are the benefits of using a prone breast board?
Large breasts tend to fall laterally, making it difficult to treat. Having a prone breast allows breasts to fall inferiority making it easier to treat. (fits square shape of treatment field)
The breast moves from the chest wall and heart
It is reproducible, minimises the skin reactions found in the fold of the breast
DISADVANTAGES: difficult for patients to get on and off the bed, time consuming.
What is the primary intervention for most cancers?
Surgery
What are the risk factors of breast cancer?
Genetic risk: (BRAC1, BRAC2), p53 genes don’t work
Familiar risk: breast cancer in a male relative, a family member getting breast or ovarian cancer
Staging of Breast: Stage 1
Early disease tumor or confined to the breast (node-negative)
Staging of Breast: Stage 2
Early disease; tumor spread to moveable ipsilateral axilliary nodes (node positive)
Staging of Breast: Stage 3
Disease has spread to superficial structures of the chest wall and has moved to ipsilateral mammary lymph nodes
Staging of Breast: Stage 4
Advanced (metastatic) disease commonly spreads to bone, liver, lungs and brain (also spreads to supraclavicular lymph nodes)
Describe the TNM staging system?
T: described the original primary tumour
N: describes whether or not the cancer has reached nearby lymph nodes
M: tells whether there are distant metastases
What is the T category for staging?
TX - Primary tumor cannot be evaluated (unknown)
T0-No evidence of primary tumour
Tis - carcinoma is situ (early cancer that has not spread to neighboring sites)
T1-T4: Size/extent of primary tumour
How large is a tumor at T1 stage (breast)?
less than or equal to 20mm in greatest dimension
How large is a tumor at T2 stage (breast)?
Tumor is greater than 20mm but is less than 50mm
20-50mm