How to Treat Cancer Flashcards
What are oncologists?
People that treat cancer without surgery.
What can clinical oncologists do?
Radiotherapy, brachytherapy and systemic anti-cancer therapy.
What is adjuvant therapy?
Anti-cancer therapy after surgery aimed at reducing risk of recurrence.
What is neo-adjuvant therapy?
Anti-cancer therapy before surgery to shrink a tumour before removal.
What are the 4 treatment endpoints?
- Overall survival.
- Disease free survival (asymptomatic).
- Progression free survival (not getting worse).
- Local control (time without recurrence or progression at a specific tumour site).
What is brachytherapy?
Taking a radioactive material and planting it into the cancer.
What are the 3 types of systemic anti-cancer therapy?
Cytotoxic chemo, targeted therapy, immunotherapy.
What are general symptoms of chemotherapy toxicity?
Malaise, fatigue, lethargy, alopecia.
What are GI symptoms of chemotherapy toxicity?
Diarrhoea, nausea, mucositis (mouth ulcers), altered taste.
What are haematological symptoms of chemotherapy toxicity?
Neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anaemia.
What sort of DNA damage does radiotherapy cause?
Double strand breaks (hard to repair).
What are the units of radiotherapy?
Grays (Gy).
What is radiosensitising chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy that improved the effectiveness of radiotherapy.
What type of therapy does squamous cell carcinoma respond better to than adenocarcinoma?
Radiotherapy.
What is the day 31 target?
Decision to treat to first treatment within 31 days.
