MTB Heam/Oncology Flashcards
All ER or PR positive patients should receive
tamoxifen, raloxifene, or one of the aromatase inhibitors
All breast cancers should be tested
for Her2/neu. This is an abnormal estrogen receptor.
Trastuzumab
Hormonal Manipulation in Prostate Cancer
Flutamide, GNRH agonists, ketoconazole, and orchiectomy help control the size and progression of metastases once they have occurred.
Small cell cancer is considered unresectable in 95% of cases because
it is meta- static or spread outside one lung.
Diagnostic Testing of testicular cancer
Remove the whole testicle with inguinal orchiectomy. Do not cut the scrotum, which can spread the disease. Needle biopsy of the testicle is always a wrong answer.
Alpha fetoprotein is secreted only by nonseminomatous cancers. HCG is up in all ofthem.
The management ofadvanced cervical cancer is clear:
Perform a hysterectomy.
Prevention of Cervical Cancer
o Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is given to all women between ages 11 and 26.
o Pap smear is performed starting at age 21. Repeat the test every 3 years until the age of 65. Of women with fatal cervical cancer, 85% have never had a Pap smear. Pap and HPV testing increase the interval to 5 years.
Causes of low MCV:
- Iron deficiency
- Thalassemia
- Sideroblastic anemia
- Anemia of chronic disease
Microcytic anemias generally have a low reticulocyte count.
Causes of high MCV:
• B12 a nd folate deficiency
• Sideroblastic anemia
• Alcoholism
• Antimetabolite medications such as azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, or
hydroxyurea
• Liver disease or hypothyroidism
• Medications such as zidovudine or phenytoin • Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
Symptomatic from anemia means:
- Shortness of breath
- Lightheaded, confused, and sometimes syncope • Hypotension and tachycardia
- Chest pain
Vitamin B12 deficiency is caused by:
- Pernicious anemia
- Pancreatic insufficiency
- Dietary deficiency(vegan/strictvegetarian)
- Crohn disease, celiac, tropical sprue, radiation, or any disease damaging the terminal ileum
- Blind loop syndrome (gastrectomyorgastricbypassforweightloss)
- Diphyllobothrium latum,HIV
Folate deficiency is caused by:
- Dietary deficiency (goat’s milk has no folate and provides only limited iron and B12)
- Psoriasis and skin loss or turnover
- Drugs: phenytoin, sulfa
Sickle cell is a
chronic, usually well-compensated hemolytic anemia with a reticulocyte count that is always high.
Other Common Manifestations of Sickle Cell Disease
These include:
- Bilirubingallstonesfromchronicallyelevatedbilirubinlevels
- Increasedinfectionfromautosplenectomy,particularlyencapsulated organisms
- Osteomyelitis,mostcommonlyfromSalmonella
- Retinopathy
- Stroke
- Enlarged heart with hyperdynamic features and a systolic murmur
- Lower extremity skin ulcers
- Avascular necrosis ofthe femoral head
Which of the following can be found on smear in sickle cell disease?
a. Basophilic stippling
b. Howell-Jolly bodies
c. Bite cells
d. Schistocytes
e. Morulae
“What Is the Most Likely Diagnosis?”
- Recurrent episodes of hemolysis
- Intermittent jaundice
- Splen omegaly
- Family history of anemia or hemolysis
- Bilirubin gallstones
Diagnostic Tests autoimmune hemolysis
The most accurate diagnostic test is the Coombs test, which detects IgG antibody on the surface of the red cells.
Cold agglutinins are
IgM antibodies against the red cell developing in association with Epstein-Barr virus, Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, or Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
cryoglobulins are associated with:
- Hepatitis C
- Joint pain
- Glomerulonephritis
Glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is
an X-linked recessive disorder leading to an inability to generate glutathione reductase and protect the red cells from oxidant stress. The most common oxidant stress is infection.
The best initial test for G6PD
is for Heinz bodies and bite cells.
Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is
a clonal stem cell defect with increased sensitivity of red cells to complement in acidosis.
• Episodic dark urine with the first urination of the day from hemoglobin
• Pancytopenia andiron deficiency anemia
Aplastic anemia is
pancytopenia of unclear etiology. Any infection or cancer can invade the bone marrow, causing decreased production or hypoplasia.
Polycythemia vera (p. vera) is
the unregulated overproduction of all3 cell lines, but red cell overproduction is the most prominent. There is a mutation in the JAK2 protein which regulates marrow production. The red cells grow wildly despite a low erythropoietin level.
Patients present with symptoms of hyperviscosity from the increased red blood cell mass such as:
- Headache, blurred vision, and tinnitus
- Hypertension
- Fatigue
- Splenomegaly
- Bleeding from engorged blood vessels
- Thrombosis from hyperviscosity
Pruritus often follows warm showers because of histamine release from increased numbers of basophils.
Essential Thrombocytosis
a markedly elevated platelet count above one million leading to both thrombosis and bleeding.
Erythromelalgia =
painful, red hands in ET. Treat with aspirin.
Myelofibrosis is a
disease of older persons with a pancytopenia associated with a bone marrow showing marked fibrosis.
Look for teardrop-shaped cells and nucleated red blood cells on blood smear.