Oncology and Palliative Care Flashcards
How is decision made for treatment of cancer in cancer patients?
Based on histopathological examination.
Intention is to remove the cancer as much as possible without compromising the anatomy too severely.
How is pathology removed from patient?
Margins of the lesion are removed .
Sometimes neck dissection is needed
How is anatomy reconstructed following surgical resection?
Soft-tissue flaps
Bone-harvesting
Implants intraorally and extraorally
Prosthetics: Obturator or facial prostheses
What is an obturator?
A prosthesis used to fill in the defect created by oral surgery and has a similar shape to the structures being replaced.
What are the oral complications post surgery that can arise?
Loss of integrily of the oral cavity
Loss of teeth
Changes to soft tissues: Floor of the mouth
Pain
Function
Aesthetics/self esteem
What is chemotherapy?
Treatment using cytotoxic drugs
What does chemotherapy do?
Kills cells during the process of mitosis
Damages genetic material during DNA replication or at the point of cell division
How is chemotherapy delivered?
Can be delivered intravenously or orally.
Usually a combination of medications is used with different actions
What is the role of chemotherapy?
Shrink tumour before surgery/radiotherapy
To try and prevent recurrence after other therapies
Primary treatment for some cancers (lymphoma) can be used for head and neck SCCs
Treat metastatic cancer
What are the side effects of chemotherapy?
Mucositis
Risk of infection
Thrombocytopaenia
Neutropaenia
Bone marrow suppression
What is radiotherapy?
Use of high energy electromagnetic radiation or particles to disrupt integrity of malignant cells.
Therapeutic application aimed at inducing focal damage to DNA.
How can radiotherapy be used in the treatment of cancer?
As a primary therapy for cancer treatment
To shrink a tumour prior to surgery
After surgery to treat lymph nodes
To destroy remaining tumour cells
Palliative therapy
What is IMRT?
Using several sources of radiation around the head/body to irradiate the tumour by delivering an adequate dose without damaging the intermediate structures in the process.
What are the oral complications of radiotherapy?
Fibrosis of tissues
Capillary changes and decreased vascularity
Increased tissue fragility
Reduced healing ability
Susceptibility to infection
Mucositis
Telangiectasia
Trismus
Xerostomia
Saliva changes
Oral discomfort
Taste alterations
Dentine hypersensitivity (softening of dentine)
Loss of periodontal attachment
Radiation caries (very unique presentation of caries that is circumferential, browning of teeth caries, yellowing of teeth)
Risk of ORN
How are systemic cancer therapy patients typically treated?
Multidisciplinary team involved and special needs dentists + general dentists are important members of this team.