week 15 Flashcards
(57 cards)
Staging and Grading Cancer
Cancer can be found at its primary site or it can
metastasize to other sites.
▪ Always named for the primary site
Carcinoma
- Within an organ
- Skin, mouth, lungs, breast,
prostate, colon and rectum,
pancreas, ovaries, liver,
kidneys
Sarcoma
- Within connective tissues
Rare form of cancer - Bones, muscles, tendons,
cartilage, nerves, fat, blood
vessels
Lymphoma
- Within lymphatic tissue
- Lymph nodes, spleen,
thymus gland, bone marrow
Leukemia
- Within blood-forming tissue
Does not form a tumor - Granulocytes, monocytes,
lymphocytes
Stage 0 or carcinoma in situ
- pre-malignant or pre-cancer. - Abnormal cells
are found only in the first layer of cells in the place where the changes first started.
-The cells do not invade
the deeper tissues. These cells may become cancer over time, - Most kinds of cancer do not use this stage
Stage I
Cancer is only in the cells where it first started and the area is small. This is considered early stage and most curable.
Stage II
- Cancer is in the organ where it first started. It may be a bit larger than stage I and/or may have spread to nearby lymph nodes
Stage III
Cancer in the organ where it first started. It may be larger than stage II and may have spread to nearby lymph nodes and/or other nearby tissues, organs, or structures
Stage IV
- Cancer has spread to organs in other parts of the body (metastasized)
- still the same type of cancer as where it first started
Recurrent
-Recurrent cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated.
-It may come back in the
same area or in a different part of the body
-Common Cancer Staging Method
T
Refers to the size and the extent of primary tumor
N
The number of nearby lymph nodes that have cancer; indicates the absence or
presence of lymph node involvement.
M
Absence or presence of metastases
Number system
Either an X or number is assigned to each T, M, or N. A client’s stage might be T3N1M0,
and this system gives the client more information about the cancer.
Number system
X: Cannot be measured
0: Not present
1, 2, 3, or 4: Higher numbers indicate more significant effects
Cancer Grading
The tumor grade is a system used to classify cancer cells in terms of how abnormal they look under a microscope and how quickly the tumor is likely to spread and grow.
Grade I and II tumors
- resemble normal cells.
- They tend to grow and multiply slowly,
- least aggressive type of tumor.
- ▪I
▪Well differentiated (low grade)
▪II
▪Moderately differentiated (intermediate grade)
Grade III and IV tumors
- have cells that do not look like normal cells of the same type. - - They tend to grow rapidly and spread faster than in tumors with a lower grade (I or II)
▪III
▪Poorly differentiated (high grade)
▪IV
▪Undifferentiated (high grade)
Surgery
▪ Not all tumors can be removed.
▪ In cases where only a portion of the tumor can be removed surgically, radiation and/or chemotherapy may be used before or after surgery
Radiation
When the goal of radiation is to shrink the tumor, the associated
symptoms are expected to be alleviated as well
Chemotherapy
▪ Because chemotherapy is a systemic treatment, and not specifically directed toward cancer cells, it kills healthy cells as well.
▪ A client with cancer must be strong enough, even before chemotherapy is administered, to be able to tolerate the side effects of drugs
RADIATION
(RADIOTHERAPY) SIDE
EFFECTS
Immunosuppression
Fatigue
Skin irritation/burns
Soft tissue fibrosis
Delayed wound healing
Edema
Hair loss
CHEMOTHERAPY SIDE
EFFECTS
Nausea
Vomiting
Hair loss
Neuropathies
Mouth sores
Low blood cell counts
Loss of appetite