Cancer Detection Flashcards

Flashcards covering medical screening, vital signs, diagnostic techniques, and cancer staging systems based on the Chapter 5 Part 2 lecture notes.

Medical history

Provides a snapshot of a patient's prior medical problems and treatments to help identify risk factors, establish foundation for diagnosis, and aid in preventive care.

Premalignant condition

Physiologic characteristics or predisposing factors that may lead to malignancy.

Paraneoplastic syndrome

A collection of symptoms resulting from substances or hormones produced by a tumor that occur remotely from the tumor.

Genetic mutations

Changes to the base pair sequence of either DNA or RNA that are passed down to descendants, such as $BRACA1$ or $BRACA2$.

Physical Examination

A structured and detailed assessment of a patient's anatomic regions to detect variations from normal health using sight, touch, and sound.

Inspection

One of the Four Classic Techniques of Physical Examination involving the use of sight to observe the patient.

Palpation

A technique using touch to feel tissues and organs during a physical examination.

Percussion

Tapping the body to evaluate underlying structures during a physical examination.

Auscultation

Listening to sounds made by the body, such as the heart or lungs, using clinical skills.

Edema

Swelling of the tissue caused by the accumulation of excessive amounts of fluid.

Homeostasis

The body's ability to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes inside or outside the body.

Febrile

A term used to describe a patient with a fever.

Hypothermia

A state where a patient's temperature falls below the normal range.

Oral Normal Body Temp

A temperature range of $97.7-99.5$ degrees.

Pulse

The expansion and contraction of an artery as blood is pumped by the heart.

Pulse oximeter

A noninvasive device used to assess hemoglobin oxygen saturation of arterial blood and the patient's pulse rate.

Respirations

The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide during breathing.

Diaphragm

The major muscle of ventilation.

Tachypnea

A respiratory rate greater than $20$ breaths per minute, often caused by exercise, fever, or pain.

Bradypnea

A decrease in respiratory rate that occurs less frequently than tachypnea, often due to drug overdose or head trauma.

Dyspnea

Difficulty breathing.

Orthopnea

A condition where a patient can breathe comfortably while sitting or standing but becomes short of breath when lying down.

Apnea

The cessation of breathing; important in radiation therapy as it may require special monitoring or positioning.

Systolic

The top number in blood pressure measurement representing pressure during heart contraction (the heart squeezing blood out).

Diastolic

The bottom number in blood pressure measurement representing pressure during heart relaxation (the heart resting and filling).

Brachial artery

The most common site for taking blood pressure, crossing the elbow joint ($\text{antecubital fossa}$).

Hypertension

Blood pressure that is higher than normal, often called the "silent killer" because it may have no symptoms.

Hypotension

Blood pressure that is lower than normal, which can prevent organs from receiving enough oxygen-rich blood.

Nasal Canula

The most common device used to deliver low concentrations of oxygen.

Screening

Testing individuals who are asymptomatic for a particular disease to enable early detection.

Sensitivity

The ability of a test to give a true-positive result when the disease is present.

Specificity

The ability of a test to obtain a true-negative result when the disease is absent.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy

A procedure focusing on finding the first lymph nodes to receive draining fluid from tumors using blue dye or radioactive technetium-$99m$.

Prevalence

The probability of disease in the entire population at any point in time.

Incidence

The probability that a disease will develop in a disease-free patient during a specific interval.

Digital Rectal Examination (DRE)

A physical exam used to detect prostate abnormalities.

Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)

A blood test measuring protein levels that, if elevated, may indicate cancer, infection, or enlargement of the prostate.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

A sexually transmitted infection linked to $90\%$ of cervical cancers.

Pap test

A screening tool used to detect abnormal cervical cells early.

Blood chemistry tests

Studies used to examine chemicals in the blood such as glucose, electrolytes, and proteins.

Nuclear Medicine Imaging

A diagnostic method that introduces a radioactive substance (radionuclide) into the patient to trace metabolic processes.

Gamma Camera

A large circular stationary camera used in nuclear medicine to capture an entire area of interest at once.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

An imaging modality where cancer cells absorb radioactive glucose faster than normal tissue to highlight tumor sites.

Incisional biopsy

A procedure that removes only a part of a tumor for diagnosis.

Excisional biopsy

A procedure that removes the entire tumor; the pathologist evaluates the margins for being clear (negative) or positive.

Tumor Markers

Substances released by tumors detected in blood or body fluids, used to monitor treatment response or spread.

Exfoliative Cytology

The examination of cells that slough off naturally or are scraped from surfaces, such as in urine, sputum, or a Pap test.

TNM Staging System

A system where $T$ represents tumor size, $N$ represents regional lymph node involvement, and $M$ represents distant metastasis.

Direct extension

A cancer spread pattern involving growth into nearby tissue.

History Grade 1

Well-differentiated cells that closely resemble normal cells.

History Grade 4

Undifferentiated or anaplastic cells which are highly abnormal.