Chemotherapy Flashcards
There is increased prevalence in of cancer
Increasing age of population
Improved survival
New risk factors
Explosion in medical therapy for these patients
What is chemotherapy?
Treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or stopping them dividing.
What are the four uses of chemotherapy?
Curative -> Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) , Burkitt’s Lymphoma
Adjuvent -> With other type of treatment - surgery / radiotherapy
Maintenance -> Prolong remission or prevent relapse - lymphoma
Palliative -> Prolong life, relieve symptoms, improve quality of life (QoL)
What are the types of chemotherapy?
What is cytotoxic chemotherapy?
Exploits the fact that malignant cells behave differently to normal cells in that they divide more rapidly
Other Tissues with rapidly dividing cells are often affected Eg Oral Mucosa
Hair Follicles
Bone Marrow
Cells in resting phase are immune to cytotoxic chemotherapy
Kinetics of chemotherapy
Acute side effects of chemotherapy
Pain
Hair loss
Mouth sores
Trouble breathing
Nausea/ vomiting
Bruising/bleeding
Rashes
Weakened immune system
Neuropathy
Constipation/diarrhoea
Hormonal therapy
Benefits?
Used for?
Oral side effects?
Effect confined to target organ
Less systemic side effects
Used for breast and prostate cancer
Oral Side Effects:
Gingival bleeding
Xerostomia
Oral Burning
Increased gingival inflammation
What is targeted chemotherapy?
What is immunotherapy?
Examples?
Maintenance chemotherapy
What does it do?
Used for?
Includes?
Can routine dental treatment be performed safely?
Long term side effects of chemotherapy
Metastatic spread to the jaw
What cancers metastasise to the jaws?
Breast
Lung
Kidney
Dental side effects of chemotherapy
Acute ( 5 )
Long term ( 2 )
Screening questions
Summary
