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
Some cancers that require BMT
- Philadelphia chromosome (+) ALL
- Neuroblastoma (b/c it’s usually not diagnosed until ~4 years old so there is poor prognosis)
- Hotchkins or Non-Hotckins and relapse during treatment (because generally they have a good prognosis, so relapsing during treatment will require BMT)
- AML type Leukemia
- Because these don’t respond to chemo, radiation, or surgery, and BMT is part of the protocol
- Will be getting chemo until the BMT
Engraftment
Usually occurs 2-4 weeks after transplant.; WBC, RBC, and platelet production indicates “engraftment”
- When they start making their on WBC, RBC, and platelets
- If it’s day 21 and you don’t see an increase in these, that is a major concern that maybe they are not engrafting
- Important to follow blood work before, during, after transplant!!
Post-BMT Complications: GVHD
Occurs when WBC from donor identify patient’s bone marrow as foreign and attack them.
- IF YOU START TO SEE SYMPTOMS AROUND DAY 4, IT IS MOST LIKELY NOT GVHD!
- GVHD takes 2-4 weeks to develop
*If a patient has an allogeneic transplant and gets GVHD, they can increase the immunosuppresents, may give extra prednisone, etc. to try and counteract reaction and prevent it from going further
GVHD Signs and Symptoms
- Fever
- Rash (will biopsy rash to dx GVHD)
- V/D
- Can attack liver; elevation in liver enzymes
*Not 3 days post transplant, needs to be ~2 weeks after
Post-Transplant Interventions (3)
- Immunosuppressants (unless autologous BMT)
- Watching for complications such as GVHD
- May need to get new immunizations/boosters because the antibiotics have been wiped out
Biotherapy Treatment (5)
An alternative to chemotherapy
- Using part of the human body that are programmed to destroy cells and applies them to cancer cells
- –>Developing tumor specific antibodies, specific to cancer type to destroy it - Group of drugs that stimulate the body’s immune system, such as Inteferon (used to boost immune system to fight cancer)
- Vaccines, such as for HPV
* HPV puts you at risk for oral cancer
* HPV vaccine only for 9+ - Molecular Targeting
- Gene therapy (replace faulty gene with normal cell)
Biotherapy: Molecular Targeting
- Interference with metabolic pathways through enzyme destruction
- Trying to prevent nutrition to the tumor
Supportive Therapies for Pediatric Cancers (7)
- Pain Management (ex: PCA)
- Antiemetics
- Nutrition (may need neutropenic diet)
- Growth factors
- Blood products
- Psychological support for patient and family, especially siblings
- Alternative therapies (know about all alternative therapies, especially herbs, that patient is using)
* Certain herbs can interfere with chemo mechanism of action
Supportive therapy: Growth Factors
Things that can stimulate RBC, WBC
- Epogen: stimulates RBC production
- Nupogen, procrip: stimulates WBC production
* Side effect → soreness or bone pain
Absolute Neutrophil Count (with calculation)
The Total % of neutrophils (“polys or segs” and “bands”)
- Poly/segs: mature neutrophils
- Bands/non-segs: immature neutrophils
- Normal ANC is over 1,000
- In order to be discharged, you have to have an ANC of >500
- Isolation precautions with ANC 300 or lower (number may increase during flu season)
CALCULATION:
Multiply WBC x % of neutrophils
Example: if WBC= 1,000, poly/segs= 7%, bands=7%
1st: Add total neutrophil –> 7+7= 14% = 0.14
2nd: 1,000 x 0.14 = 140 ANC
Tumor Lysis Syndrome (and what is it commonly seen with?)
Can result from cancer itself or side effect of chemotherapy treatment
- Lysis of tumor cells and rapid release of contents of tumor cells into the blood.
1. High levels of uric acid, K+ and phosphate.- –Can cause cardiac arrhythmias and renal failure.
- If they find these high levels prior to the chemo it needs to be corrected before they even start chemotherapy
A. Elevated uric acid treatment: allopurinol
B. Also will give sodium bicarbonate
*Seen more commonly with ALL and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma