Oncology and Such Flashcards
What is the pathogenesis of cancer?
- uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells
- starts with some carcinogen, oncogene
- changes in a single cell: altered cell DNA, normal controls on cell growth are ineffective resulting in rapid cellular proliferation
- cells keep mutating-why we see in elderly
- cancer-relevant genes discovered
What group are most cancers in?
70% are in 65 years old and up
What are oncology risk factors?
- advancing age
- exposure to viruses: HPV
- lifestyle or personal behaviors
- geographic location and environment
- ethnicity, herditary
- stress
- precancerous lesions
- exposure to hormones
- socioeconomic status
- occupation: fumes, etc
- inflammatory bowel disease: increased risk of cancer
When do cancers usually develop symptoms?
when they metastasize?
What cancers have screening?
breast, tongue, mouth, colon, rectum, cervix, prostate, testis, skin
Tell me about tumors/neoplasms
- benign or malignant
- -better survival rate; metastases
- carcinoma in situ: encapsulated, can be removed easily
- primarily-cells that are local to the structure: determines the type of treatment
- secondary-result of metastasized cancer cells from the primary site
Metastases
cells break away from the primary tumor and travel via the blood or lymphatic system where they infiltrate organ tissue and grow in a new tumor
dysplasia
disorganization of cells
-Pap smear
Hyperplasia
abnormal growth of abnormal cells-onset of tumor
differentiation
don’t look like original cells
-stage four, poor prognosis
Tumor types
benign
- non-invasive
- non-metastatic: invasive (basal cell-skin cancer), doesn’t metastasize to another organ
malignant
- invasive
- metastatic (carcinoma, sarcoma): malignant tumor made up of epithelial cells tending to infiltrate surrounding tissue and metastasize (85% of all cancers)
Classifications of Neoplasm
- basis of cell type
- tissue of origin
- degree of differentiation: biopsy
- anatomic site
- benign vs. malignant
HEY
go look on your “stuff to know” doc for some beautiful notes and also charts about cancers
what is a sentinal node thing?
biopsy to determine if there’s metastasis
Who do sarcomas effect most often?
adolescents, young adults
What’s a big thing that happens a lot with sarcomas, and why are they underdiagnosed?
- amputations
- usually starts with pain complaint brushed off as growing pains
How do they treat leukemias?
stem cell transplants
What are clinical symptoms of cancer?
- early stages asymptomatic
- nausea, vomiting and retching accompanied by anorexia with weight loss common with advanced cancer
- muscular weakness due to fatigue and anemia; anemia and coagulation disorders occur in advanced stages
- pain may or may not occur: early stages 50-70%, late stages 60-90%
- fatigue, fever, decreased immunity with increased infections-get sick and never get better
Cancer signs and symptoms: breast cancer
abnormal mammogram; lump; skin irritation, dimpling, distortion; nipple pain or retraction
cancer signs and symptoms: prostate
no early symptoms; weak or interrupted urine flow; inability to urinate or difficulty stopping and starting flow; frequency, especially at night; continual pain in low back, ribs, pelvis, or thighs
cancer signs and symptoms: colon/rectal
rectal bleeding; abdominal pelvic, back or sacral pain; pain that radiates down LEs; blood in stool; change in bowel habits
cancer signs and symptoms: leukemia
fatigue, paleness; weight loss; repeated infeciton; bruising easily; nosebleeds or other hemorrhages
cancer signs and symptoms: lung
persistent cough; sputum with streaked blood; dyspnea; chest or upper back pain aggravated by inspiration; recurring pneumonia or bronchitis
cancer signs and symptoms: lymphoma
enlarged lymph nodes; itching; night sweats; unexplained weight loss; intermittent fevers
cancer signs and symptoms: pancreas
no early symptoms; jaundice; abdominal pain; glucose intolerance
Paraneoplastic syndromes
produce signs and symptoms that aren’t direct effects of the tumor or it’s metastases; 10-20% of patients
- most common produces ACTH causing Cushings syndrome (moon phase)
- cancer arthritis: typically in hands
- symptoms: neurologic changes, anorexia, malaise, diarrhea, weight loss and fever
Signs and symptoms of integumentary mets
- skin lesion
- palpable nail bed changes
- bleeding, discharge, tenderness
Signs and symptoms of musculoskeletal mets
- idiopathic proximal muscle weakness
- deep localized bone pain
- decreased tolerance of WBing
- soft tissue swelling
- pathologic fracture
- back or rib pain: does not respond to modalities
Osteoblastic tumors
- common with prostate, 15-30% with uterine, lung, colon, stomach, kidney
- skeletal related events sequelae: pain and pathologic fractures
- increased bone density
- making bone so fast that it’s not well made so you get weak bones
Osteolytic tumors
- moth eaten
- common with breast cancer and multiple myeloma
- skeletal related events sequelae: severe pain, pathological fractures, life threatening hypercalcemia, SC compression (neuro exams!)
- risk of kidney damage
- hypercalcemia-joints kidneys (perfuse less)
- increase edema (legs, chest)-SOB, WBing
What do you have to watch for with osteoblastic and osteolytic fractures?
most patients with bone mets have evidence of both abnormal bone resorption and formation
-both are at risk fracture
How do they diagnose osteolytic/blastic tumors and what do they do for it?
- biochemical markers for bone degradation; imaging-bone scan and PET, CT, MRI, radiographs (50% of bone involved before it shows up on xray)
- restricted WBing, surgery
Neurologic mets: signs and symptoms
- headaches with nausea and vomiting
- irritability
- confusion
- seizure
- changes in bowel and bladder
- change in DTR, clonus, Babinski
- vision changes
- change in mental status
- balance/coordination problems
- numbness and tingling
Pulmonary mets: signs and symptoms
- pleural pain
- dyspnea
- new onset of weakness
- productive cough
Hepatic mets: signs and symptoms
- abdominal pain and tenderness
- jaundice
- ascites
- peripheral edema
- right shoulder pain
- general malaise
- bilateral CTS
- 50% of people get liver damage,
Staging vs grading
- staging describes the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis based on primary tumor, regional lymph nodes, metastasis
- staging is more predictive than grading
- systems specific for each kind of cancer
BRAIN BREAK
go read the staging and grading slides on page 9&10 of the oncology handout; diagnostic imaging slide (10), lab slide (10)
metaplasia
change in cells
ex-Berret’s esophagus
anaplastic
very poorly differentiated, no longer look like primary tumor
What are the kinds of endoscopy?
- colonscopy
- ERCP: endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
- EGD/upper GI: esophagogastroduodenoscopy
- sigmoidscopy
- cystoscopy/cystourethroscopy
What are you going to see with an endoscopy?
- what the name says
- colon, esophageal, head/neck cancers, stomach cancers
What kind of imaging is used to see cancers?
- endoscopy
- Xrays
- CT scans
- bone scans
- lymphangiogram
- mammogram
- US (breast cancer-determines if follow up is needed)
- MRI (determines extensiveness of tumors/mets, surgical candidates, non-weight bearing status)
combined modality therapy
- more than one therapy in treating a pt
- ex radiation and chemo
- better survival rates with CMT
adjuvant
treatment given after primary cancer tx is completed to improve chance of a cure
neoadjuvant
given before the primary therapy to kill any cancer cells and contribute to the effectiveness of the primary therapy
what are 4 treatment options for cancer?
Surgical, Radiation, Chemotherapy, Biotherapy
The good thing about combined therapy is that there’s a better survival rate? What’s a bad thing?
long term implications of multiple treatments
What is targeted biologic therapy?
an adjuvant therapy for people with genetic markers for a certain cancer (ex-breast, lung)
breast cancer treatments
surgery, chemo, radiation, hormone, targeted biologic therapy
prostate cancer treatments
surgery, chemo, radiation, hormone
colon/rectal
surgery, chemo, radiation
leukemia
chemo, blood transfusion, bone marrow, stem cell transplant
lung
surgery, chemo, radiation, targeted biologic therapy
lymphoma
Hodgkin: chemo, radiation
Non-hodgkin: chemo, radiation, stem cell transplant
pancreas
surgery, chemo, radiation
liver
surgery, chemo, ablation, liver transplant
Does surgery help with cancer?
surgical resection alone fails to cure 70% of cancers due to regional and distal mets; not used as a single modality
what part of surgery correlates with overall survival
lymph node status
What are the types of surgery for cancer?
- curative
- palliative
- preventative/prophylactic
- diagnostic
- staging
- debulking
- restorative
- cryosurgery
- laser surgery (brain cancers-less destructive of tissue)
- electrosurgery
- microscopically controlled surgery (reduce risk of infection, smaller incision)
what are the curative surgeries?
- local excision: excise tumor and tissue around it
- -lumpectomy
- -followed by other treatment option
- block dissection: take full section because cancer is in advanced stage
What are the two types of surgical margins?
- negative clear: edges of the surgical biopsy are clear of cancer cells
- positive: edges of the surgical biopsy have cancer cells
What are advantages of surgical intervention?
- no biological resistance
- no carcinogenic effects
- cure large portion of undisseminated cancer
- assists in quantifying extent/histology of tumor
What are complications of surgery?
- non-healing wounds
- lymphedema
- DVTs and emboli
- loss of tissue/disfigurement
- infection
- nerve interruption
- pain
- fatigue
What are indications for radiation?
- cure: depends on how radiosensitive the tumor is
- control: shrink tumor before surgery to minimize spreading
- palliative: decrease s/s, shrink tumor to alleviate; poor prognosis, increase quality of life
- prophylactic: done in area where they believe all cancer is gone but want to make sure none is left
- more useful in more localized lesions
What’s a problem with radiation?
it causes a lot of scar tissue
ex-breast cancer-decreased ROM in shoulder
What are the two ways to deliver radiation?
internal and external beam
Describe internal radiation
- very intense, but less damage to healthy cells
- hospitalized
- isolated from others (psychologic implications)
- indicated for breast, prostate, thyroid, head and neck cancers
describe external beam radiation
- tomotherapy
- minimal dose-fractionated
- outpatient
- delivered in the form of electromagnetic waves
- proton therapy, laser beam
bracytherapy
- often used for prostate cancer; can be used for thyroid and breast cancer
- seeds that release radiation over a period of time; can control the amount
what are advantages of bracytherapy?
- OP, minimal hospitalization
- individualized placement of seeds
- few long-term side effects
- return to normal activity
- tolerated by pts in poor medical condition
- good long-term clinical outcomes
- cost effective
what are disadvantages of bracytherapy?
- pts experience transient urinary irritative symptoms
- close contact with small children and pregant women avoided in first 2 months after treatment
- hip soreness, knee soreness-in that position for 45 mins to an hour
What are side effects of radiation?
- skin erythema or irritation (observe skin reactions while exercising***)
- watch wound healing
- muscle weakness
- fatigue
- CT fibrosis***: hip, abdominal region
- effects on bone: osteoporosis, fractures (osteolytic, osteoblastic)
- lymphedema (radiation fields get lymph nodes)
What is the acute tissue reaction to radiation?
(while undergoing treatment) erythema
What is the intermediate reaction to radiation?
(up to 6 months) fibrotic tissue changes-ROM
What is the chronic tissue reaction to radiation?
(6 months-2 years)
- vascular damage: avascular necrosis-BVs thrombosed, vessels destroyed; lack vascularization in joint, usually hip->necrosis of the joint; surgically treated
- fibrotic changes continue resulting in ROM limitations or chest expansion (irreversible)
- effect on pigment producing cells: vitiligo
- tensile strength compromised
When would you use chemotherapy?
- widespread metastatic disease (leukemia, lymphoma)
- adjuvant chemo after surgery or radiation to kill remaining tumor cells
- neoadjuvant to shrink tumor before surgery
What does chemotherapy do?
-apoptosis by interfering with DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis and cell function
How is chemotherapy given?
- central line
- PICC
- ports (infection, thrombosis, extravasation)
What’s a major downside of chemotherapy?
immunocompromised
What are side effects of radiation?
- weight loss
- infection
- sterility
- pulmonary
- cardiac: pericarditis; long-term implications: hypertrophic myopathy (scar tissue heart), increase in HR, dyspnea with activity
- CNS effects: memory loss, difficulties with emotions, depression,
- late carcinogenic effects
What cells take the longest to go through the cycle?
blood cells
-leukemia: on chemo for 2-3 years
How do they use the cell cycle for chemo?
-treatment is 2-3 different drugs that have different effects at different parts of the cell cycle
How long does chemo usually last?
3-4 month treatment course
How does chemo effect the blood?
decreases RBCs, WBCs, and platelet count
What are the classes of chemo agents?
- alkylating agents (platinum compounds)
- antitumor antibiotics
- antimetabolites
- taxanes
- plant alkaloids
BRAIN BREAK
read the slides on pages 18-19
What is a side effect of antitumor antibiotics?
cardiotoxicity
- can be up to 20 years later
- -pay attention to vitals
- -SVT, dyspnea with exercise, fatigue
- -interval training
- -you’ll see poor exercise response, so you see it first
What are taxanes?
-paclitaxel, docetaxel, abraxane
What are plant alkaloids?
-vincirstine, etoposide, vinlastine
What is a major concern with chemo, especially taxanes and plant alkaloids?
- CIPN
- -can contribute to dizziness, weakness, visual problems
- -chemo drugs wrap around nerves
- -vestibular problems, balance issues, increase in visualization problems
- -resolves after chemo for some, some resolves later, some doesn’t resolve
What are side effects of doxorubicin?
(antitumor antibiotic)
- decrease in blood cell counts
- heart damage
What are the side effects of cyclophosphamide?
(alkylating agent)
- decrease in blood cell counts
- lung or heart damage
What are the side effects of taxol?
(plant alkaloid)
- arthalgias and myalgias
- peripheral neuropathy
- hypersensitivity reaction
What is a side effect of Docetaxel?
(antimetabolite)
-numbness and tingling in hands and feet (CIPN)
What is biotherapy?
stimulates or restores the ability of the immune system to fight cancer, infection, and other diseases
What are side effects of biotherapy?
- CV changes-take vitals!
- flu-like symptoms: low grade fever, nausea, frequent diarrhea
- loss of appetite
- GI symptoms
- rash with dry itchy skin
- fluid retention (edema, can effect gait, decreased proprioception)
- CNS effects
What are biological response modifiers?
- enhance immune system, enhances other treatments like chemo
- -interferons: direct antitumor effect
- -interleukin-2: trigger immune response
Bone Marrow or stem cell transplant
- preventing bone marrow destruction
- allows high doses of chemo and radiation
- used for leukemia, lymphomas, solid tuomrs, neuroblastoma, multiple myeloma, severe aplastic aneumia
- can be autologous or allogenic
- can do through IV-not as invasive
What are side effects of bone marrow transplant?
- infection
- fatigue
- malaise
- CNS symptoms
- graft versus host disease: native cells reject donor cells
What’s the best thing to do for someone after a bone marrow transplant?
mobilize!!
Graft versus host disease complications
- loss of end ROM in multiple joints, esp. hip, knee, DFers
- develop bronchiolitis obliterans: chronic cough, dyspnea, and expiratory wheezes; chronic pleural effusions
- significant weight loss
What can PTs do for GVHD?
- mobilization and manual soft tissue work to maintain joint motion-chest wall
- comprehensive exercise program
- breathing exercises, bed mobility, theraband in bed