Oncology overview Flashcards
Top 10 cancers in men
- Prostate
- Lung
- Colorectal
- Bladder
- Non-hodgkins lymphoma
- Melanoma of the skin
- Oesophageal
- Kidney
- Lip, oral cavity and pharynx
- Leukaemia
Top 10 cancers in women
- Breast
- Lung
- Colorectal
- Uterus
- Ovarian
- Melanoma
- Non-hodgkin lymphoma
- Pancreas
- Leukaemia
- Kidney
Key terms (6)
- Adjuvant
- Neoadjuvant
- Palliative
- Radical
- Symptomatic
- Concurrent
Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG): Performance status (0-5)
0: Fully active
1: Restricted in physically strenuous activity
2: Ambulatory and capable of all selfcare
3: Capable of only limited selfcare
4: Completely disabled and confined to bed/chair
5: Deceased
Colorectal cancer: Overview
- About 25% have family hx
- About 5% have identified mutations
Autosomal dominant colorectal cancer syndrome:
- Lynch syndrome
- Familial adenomatous polyposis
- Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
Cancer staging: Overview
Staging systems are used to describe the extent of a cancer.
A cancer is always referred to by the stage given at diagnosis. The TNM system is most widely used and is based on the extent of tumour (T), spread to lymph nodes (N) and the presence of metastases (M).
Other prefixes used in cancer staging: (5)
- C: clinical stage
- R: if tumour is re-staged after a disease free interval
- A: stage @ autopsy
- P: stage after pathology
Cancer imaging: (7)
- Radiographs
- USS
- CT
- MRI
- PET-CT
- Monoclonal antibodies
- Bone scintigraphy (bone scan)
Breaking bad news: SPIKES
- (S)etting up the interview
- Assess the patient’s (P)erception of the situation
- Obtain an (I)nvitiation - ask the patient if it’s ok to explain
- Give (K)nowledge and information to the patient
- Address the (E)motional response with (E)mpathy
- (S)trategy and (S)ummary - aim for consensus with patient and family
Oncogenes: Definition
- Gain of function
- Have pathological activity in the absence of a relevant signal.
- Oncogenes behave in dominant manner - mutation to one allele results in unchecked activation.
Tumour supressor genes: Definition
- Loss of function
- No longer act as inhibitors of pro-malignant processes.
- In most cases, mutation to both alleles must occur for a cancer phenotype.
- This can occur as either 2 separate somatic events.
- Or, first ‘hit’ is inherited and second occurs somatically.
Hereditary cancer syndromes, is suggested by:
- Unusual early age or presentation
- Multiple primary cancers or bilateral/multifocal cancers
- Clustering of cancers in relatives
- Cancers in multiple generations
- Rare tumours or histology
- Ethnicity
Cancer staging
STAGING is a way of describing the size of a cancer and how far it has grown. When doctors first diagnose a cancer, they carry out tests to check how big the cancer is and whether it has spread into surrounding tissues. They also check to seewhether it has spread to other parts of the body.
Cancer staging may sometimes include the GRADING of the cancer. This describes how similar a cancer cell is to a normal cell.
Types of staging systems
- Number staging system
- TNM staging system
NUMBER staging system
STAGE 1:usually means thata cancer is relatively small and contained within the organ it started in
STAGE 2:usually means that the tumour is larger than in stage 1, but the cancer has not started to spread into the surrounding tissues. Sometimes stage 2 means that cancer cells have spread into lymph nodes close to the tumour. This depends on the particular type of cancer
STAGE 3:usually means the cancer is larger. It may have started to spread into surrounding tissues and there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes in the area
STAGE 4:means the cancer has spread from where it started to another body organ. This is also called secondary or metastatic cancer
