Exam 3: Oncology Flashcards
Causes of Cancer
- Genetic
- Mutation in DNA causing photo-onco genes to turn on when they shouldn’t, leading to increased cell division as well as turning off tumor suppressing genes
- Failure of immune system to distinguish between normal and abnormal cells
- T cells responsible for monitoring cancer cells: CD8
- Carcinogens (tobacco, UV light, radiation, etc)
~There are a lot of overlap of symptoms with children; sometimes cancer is misdiagnosed or not diagnosed
Ex:
*Tired, bruising, pain, lymphadenopathy
*Universal symptoms in infants: poor feeding, irritability, fever
Pediatric Cancer Protocols (3)
Include:
- Diagnostic workup for that type of cancer
- Treatment: Type, dosage and frequency of the chemo
- Follow up for the patient (especially looking at the cognitive/neurological impact the tx had)
Cancer Reoccurence post-treatment
Causes of reoccurrence of initial cancer or initiation of a new cancer:
- Treatment of the cancer itself due to suppressed immune system and/or radiation
- Improper treatment of the original cancer
Chemotherapy
A type of antineoplastic drugs, it kills both the bad and good type of cells
*Tumors poses ability to develop resistance to chemo, so variety of drugs are frequently used; Children will usually be on several types of chemo due to this
Pre-chemotherapy treatment
An evaluation is required of physiological preparation and psychological preparation
*Make sure to get baseline of function of different organs in the body
- Certain chemos are very toxic to organs,
- for example, Adriamycin is toxic to the heart, will need full cardio workup
Chemotherapy routes
Oral, IM, IV, subcutaneous, intrathecal
*It will usually be given via IV
- IM and subq is rare
- Intrathecal: in spinal cord; will be getting spinal tap and chemo is administered directly into spinal column
- Intrathecal is part of ALL chemotherapy protocol
Types of chemotherapy (6 with examples)
- Alkylating agents – Cytoxan
- Antimetabolite – methotrexate
- Plant Alkoids – Vincristine
- Antitumor Antibiotics – Adriamycin
- Hormones – Prednisone
* *Will be on very large doses of prednisone
* *Prednisone may bind to DNA and help alter the transcription process to alter the mutation that occurs - Enzymes – L-asparaginase
Side effects of chemotherapy (7)
Many side effects because chemotherapy non-selectively kills rapidly diving cells
- Bone marrow suppression – neutropenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia
- Gastrointestinal
- Very bad/metallic taste in mouth
- Alopecia
- Organ damage
- Mucositis and oral candidiasis/thrush
- Anorexia (associated with the very bad taste in mouth)
Bone marrow suppression side effect of chemotherapy (and when does it reach its peak?)
Reaches it’s peak about 7-10 days after initiating chemo
- Neutropenia: low WBC levels
- Anemia: low RBC levels
- Thrombocytopenia: low platelets
- Will need to monitor patient for bleeding, infections, platelet count
- May require isolation by looking at absolute neutrophil count
GI side effects of chemotherapy (4)
- N/V (Give zofran or kytrel ~30min before chemo and give it post chemo)
- Constpiaton
- Mucosal ulcerations
- Esophagitis
Organ damage side effect of chemotherapy
Organ effected depends on type of chemo treatment, but KIDNEYS ARE ALWAYS AFFECTED!
- May have hearing loss, heart defects, etc.
- Know from protocol what organ specific damage may occur
- Since kidneys are always affected, you will need to obtain urine test/pH test prior to chemotherapy
Mucositis and oral candidiasis/thrush
- Makes it difficult to tolerate foods and fluids
- May be getting IV fluids
- Give magic mouth wash (nalox, Benadryl, lidocaine; watch for seizures with lidocaine)
- Can also suck on ice pops
Radiation treatment
- Slows tumor cell and kills rapidly dividing cells
- Can be curative or palliative
- -Palliative to shrink tumor or prevent it from getting better to decrease pain associated with the tumor - Can be used to prepare children for BMT because total body radiation suppresses the immune system to try and prevent host vs graft syndrome
* Always try and have the children see the radiation site before they go for treatment, as the site can be frightening
Side effects of radiation treatment
- Rash or burns
- Can affect bone growth
- Side effect of cranial radiation: cognitive changes/delays, especially to younger children under 3!!**
Pre-radiation interventions (2)
- Patient will be tattooed before getting radiation
* Small, permanent mark to know where to focus the beam - May need to get conjusidation (pooposed?!) because they need to lay totally still during it
Surgery treatment
Can be to:
1. Biopsy a tumor
- Debulk and resect
- Insert broviac or portocatheter
Surgery: debulk and resect
Debulk: try to make tumor smaller then give chemo and/or radiation to remove the remainder
Resect: totally remove the tumor
Broviac or Portocatheter Placement
A central line with chemotherapy because peripheral veins don’t tolerate chemotherapy
*Goes right into right atrium
Broviac: Double lumen for meds and drawing blood, get sterile dressing changes once a week
*Both you and the child have to be masked during these procedures
Portocatheter: has skin over it/reservoir it’s closed to prevent infections
- Benefits:
- Much less risk of infection
- Can shower, swim, etc.
*Drawback:
-Needle is quite big
-May be more difficult to access
~Use emlocream to numb it so it’s not uncomfortable for the child
Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant
For children who have malignancies that can not be cured by other means (surgery, chemo, radiation)
Types:
- Allogenic
- Syngeneic
- Autologous
- Patients will be getting chemo until they can receive BMT
- WBC is transplanted via an IV then goes to patient’s bone marrow
Allogenic BMT
From a donor
Syngeneic BMT
From an identical twin
*Not usually used anymore because getting the identical twin’s BMT may actually cause the genetic component of cancer
Autologous BMT
From self; when patient gets their own stem cells/bone transplant
- Used to try and prevent GVHD
- Used to try and eradicate as much of the cancer before it’s harvested because when harvesting the stem cells, they end up harvesting a lot (purging: to try and get rid of whatever cells are left that are abnormal cells)
- Won’t have to be on immunosuppresants post transplant
Preparation for Transplant
Known as “conditioning phase”
- Will get high dose chemotherapy with or without radiation
- During this phase, they are going to be very susceptible to infection; will be on isolation precautions for a long time
*Will have a timeline
A.-14, -13, etc = conditioning phase leading up to the transplant
B. 0 = day patient is getting transplant
C. +1, +2, etc is the time after receiving transplant
*Look at these to know where they are in conditioning/receiving the BMT
ALL type that has poor prognosis
Philadelphia chromosome (+) ALL
95% will relapse during first year of chemotherapy