Chapter 29: The Child With Cancer Textbook Flashcards
(123 cards)
Define the following terms related to cancer
Apoptosis
Oncogenes
Tumor suppressor genes
What does apoptosis mean?
Death of cells
What does oncogenes mean?
Mutated gene that can turn into a / has the potential to turn into cancer cell
What is tumor suppressor genes?
Anti-oncogene
So helps prevent cancer cells from growing
Identify the cardinal symptoms of cancer in children
What are the cardinal symptoms of cancer in children? (8)
Unusual mass or swelling
Unexplained paleness & loss of energy
Sudden tendency to bruise
Persistent, localized pain or limping
Prolonged, unexplained fever/illness
Frequent headaches, often vomit
Sudden eye/vision changes
Excessive, rapid weight loss
Discuss the diagnostic evaluation of children suspected of having cancer, including the history, physical examination, laboratory testing, diagnostic procedures, diagnostic imaging and pathologic evaluation
Notes
Despite dramatic improvements in prognosis, cancer remains a life-threatening, life-altering illness that has a major impact on family life and places significant demands on family strength in coping with informational and support needs.
Nurses should base support of patients and their families on the premises that with clear communication and compassionate care, fear diminishes, hope emerges and the cancer journey feels less overwhelming.
Epidemiology incidence rates
Childhood cancer is rare
The incidence of specific types of childhood cancer varies according to demographic risk factors such as age,sex and race or ethnicity.
Males have a higher risk for cancer than females
Cancer incidence is higher in children from infancy to 4 years old
Mainly being neuroblastoma and retinoblastoma
&
15 to 19 years old being lymphoma and sarcoma
White children have an overall higher incidence of cancer compared to any other race
Etiology
Often most parents ask, how did my child get this and could it have been prevented?
Lifestyle related behaviors are the main factors adults end up with cancer yet there is no real environmental factor that shows a real connection that causes kids to have cancer.
However characteristics like (3) have been found to increase the risk of childhood cancer
Birth weight
Advanced parental age
Congenital anomalies
Etiology part2
Notes
Genomic technology is rapidly advancing understanding the biology of childhood cancer.
The value of this research is the ability to identify subsets of patients whose prognosis is associated with a particular genetic change & help develop new treatment approaches that are precisely tailored to that particular cancer molecular abnormality!!
Prevention
Knowledge of the risk factors that increase likelihood of cancer holds the promise to prevention.
What are some things health care professionals should educate parents specifically about protecting children from cancer that could be caused from outside/external factors? (2)
Second hand smoking / smoking
- lung cancer
- lung cancer is one of the leading cause of cancer death in adults
Exposure to sunlight & tanning
( excess radiation and not having sunscreen on )
- this could lead to skin cancer
Prevention
To provide early detection to other types of cancer, clinicians have historically recommended that your older patients, around adolescents do what ? Male vs female?
Testicular self-examination
Breast self-examination
What is the only vaccine out there that can prevent cancer and what type?
HPV
- cervical cancer
What type of test, usually recommended to females at the age of 21 to do to detect cancer?
Pap smear
( Papanicolaou smear )
What are diagnostic evaluation we might perform in order to evaluate a child with suspected of having cancer?
Complete health history
Review of system
Physical exemption
Laboratory test
Diagnostic imagining
Diagnostic procedures
- ( lumbar puncture, bone marrow aspirate, biopsy )
Surgical pathology
What are some laboratory tests that can help us diagnose and treat children with cancer?
CBC
Serum chemistries
Liver function test
Coagulation studies
Urinalysis
What are some diagnostic procedures we might do to help diagnosis patients with cancer?
LP
Bone marrow biopsy
What are some diagnostic imaging we might do for a patient who might have cancer?
CT scan
MRI
PET
Lastly what is the pathologic and molecular evaluation after all these diagnostic methods we can perform to help determine if a child has cancer or not?
This is also famously known as what as well?
So let’s use biopsy for example
You can take a piece of tissue for sampling in order for it be sent for various biologic or molecular studies that help define the patients risk of relapse or recurrence & allow health care team to adapt correctly
Targeted therapy because we are specifically finding one thing that’s wrong, typically from these exams and being able to identify that small thing that is causing that cancer & we will help have a patient focus care in treating that abnormality with specific treatment
Discuss the major modes of cancer therapy and their indications for use with children, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, biologic response modifiers, and bone marrow transplantation
What is treatment modalities mean?
Forms of surgery or treatment that helps treat patients who have cancer
Examples being
Chemotherapy, biotherapy, blood or marrow transplant
What is the main goal behind surgery for cancer in children?
To remove the tumor and restore normal body functioning to the greatest extent possible
Typically for surgery, many children respond well to it when ?
The cancer is localized & encapsulated
( confined to the site of origin )