1.1 Background - Cancer

Question 1

What is cancer?

Answer 1

A collection of diseases characterised by un controlled cell growth and invasion.

Typically classified as either…Solid Tumours or Haematological malignancies

Question 2

How are solid tumours classified?

Answer 2

Benign tumours - Typically grow slowly, do not invade other local tissues, or spread to other parts of the body

Malignant tumours - Do invade local tissues and can spread to other parts of the body

Question 3

What are the 3 ways a tumour might spread?

Answer 3

1. Local spread…Into surrounding tissues.
2. Regional spread…Into the early lymph nodes
3. Metastatic spread…To other parts of the body.

Question 4

Is the first solid tumour which develops in the body primary or secondary?

Answer 4

Primary

Question 5

When a primary tumour spreads to other parts of the body what is the process called?

Answer 5

Metastasis

Question 6

When a primary tumour in the breast, spreads to the Lungs, is this lung cancer.

Answer 6

No

It is metastatic breast cancer with secondaries in the lung.

Question 7

Which parts of the body do haematological malignancies effect?

Answer 7

Haematological malignancies affect the

Blood
Bone Marrow
Lymph nodes

Question 8

What are the 3 types of haematological malignancies?

Answer 8

Leukaemia

Lymphoma

Multiple myeloma

Question 9

What do all haematological malignancies have in common?

Answer 9

They effect white blood cells.

Question 10

What is leukaemia?

Answer 10

A disorder of white blood cells, which starts in the bone marrow.

Question 11

How is leukaemia grouped

Answer 11

Leukaemia is grouped in 2 ways?

1. By white blood cell type:
   
   • lymphoid leukaemia
   • myeloid leukaemia
2. By speed of onset
   
   • Acute Leukaemia
   • Chronic Leukaemia

Question 12

What is lymphoma

Answer 12

Lymphoma is a type of cancer which affects the the lymphatic system

Lymphoma occurs when lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, undergo abnormal growth and multiply uncontrollably.

Question 13

What are the two types Lymphoma?

Answer 13

1. Non Hodgkins lymphoma
2. Hodgkins Lymphoma

Question 14

What is multiple myeloma?

Answer 14

Multiple myeloma is a cancer which affects plasma cells, a type of white blood cell found in the bone marrow.

In multiple myeloma, abnormal plasma cells grow out of control and form tumors in the bone marrow, crowding out normal blood cells.

Question 15

What are the 5 phases of the life cycle

Question 16

What are the 5 phases of the life cycle?

Answer 16

Question 17

What is the fractional kill index?

Answer 17

Each time chemotherapy is administered, a % of the cancer cells in the tumour are killed.

Question 18

What is a treatment cycle?

Answer 18

Question 19

What does a treatment cycle look like on a calendar?

Answer 19

Question 20

What might a continuous treatment cycle look like?

Answer 20

Question 21

Why are cytotoxic drugs given in cycles?

Answer 21

Chemotherapy targets cancer cells which are dividing rapidly and…

normal cells which also rapidly dividing e.g. bone marrow, skin, hair, epithelial lining of the gut.

On this basis the treatment phase of the cycle, is followed by a rest phase, to allow the normal cells to recover.

Question 22

What is dose intensity?

Answer 22

Question 23

What is dose density

Answer 23

Question 24

What is the difference between dose intensity and dose density?

Answer 24

Dose intense chemotherapy regimens have higher doses vs standard chemo regimens but the same cycle interval

Dose dense chemotherapy regimens have the the same dose vs standard chemo regimens but shorter cycle intervals