Oncology and Cancer Nursing Vocabulary Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the oncology lecture transcript covering cancer biology, staging, treatment modalities, complications, emergencies, and specific cancer malignancies.

Anaplasia

A feature of cancer cells where they lose the structure and differentiated function of parent cells, becoming smaller and more round over time.

Contact Inhibition

A cellular mechanism in normal body cells where cell division stops once a cell is completely surrounded by other cells; cancer cells lack this mechanism and continue dividing.

Benign Tumor

A mass formed by normal cells that grow in the wrong place or at the wrong time, such as moles, skin tags, or uterine fibroids.

Carcinoma in Situ (TIS)

A stage of cancer where malignant cells remain localized strictly at the site of origin without spreading or invading surrounding tissue.

CAUTION Mnemonic

An acronym representing the seven warning signs of cancer: Changes in bowel or bladder habits, A sore that does not heal, Unusual bleeding or discharge, Thickening or lump in breast or elsewhere, Indigestion or dysphagia, Obvious change in wart or mole, and Nagging cough or hoarseness.

Primary Prevention

Measures aimed at preventing the actual occurrence of cancer, such as avoiding carcinogens, risk factor modification, chemoprevention, vaccines, and prophylactic tissue removal.

Secondary Prevention

Screening techniques used to detect cancer early in asymptomatic individuals, such as mammograms, fecal occult blood tests, and digital rectal exams.

Debulking Surgery

Surgical removal of a portion of a tumor when complete excision is impossible, designed to enhance the effectiveness of subsequent radiation or chemotherapy.

Palliative Surgery

Surgical procedures performed to relieve symptoms and pain caused by a tumor rather than to achieve a cure.

External Beam Radiation

Radiation therapy delivered from a source outside the body targeting marked skin areas; the patient never becomes radioactive.

Brachytherapy

Internal radiation therapy delivered by placing a sealed solid radioactive source directly in or near the tumor.

Iodine-131

A systemic radioactive isotope administered intravenously or orally to treat thyroid cancer, rendering the patient and their bodily excreta radioactive for a period of time.

Dosimeter

A radiation monitoring badge worn by healthcare providers to measure personal radiation exposure while caring for patients undergoing internal radiation therapy.

Myelosuppression

The suppression of bone marrow activity resulting in decreased production of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Combination Chemotherapy

The administration of multiple chemotherapy agents with different mechanisms of cell killing, which is more effective than single-agent treatment.

Extravasation

The inadvertent leakage of a vesicant intravenous drug from a vessel into surrounding tissue, causing severe local tissue damage or necrosis.

Vesicant

A chemical or medication that causes severe tissue inflammation, blistering, or destruction upon direct contact.

Infiltration

The leakage of non-vesicant intravenous fluid into surrounding tissue without causing tissue destruction.

Induction Therapy

An initial, intense combination chemotherapy regimen initiated at leukemia diagnosis to achieve rapid, complete remission of symptoms.

Consolidation Therapy

Chemotherapy administered early during clinical remission to eliminate remaining malignant cells and aim for a cure.

Maintenance Therapy

Long-term chemotherapy prescribed for months or years after successful induction and consolidation therapy to maintain remission.

Engraftment

The successful uptake and proliferation of transplanted donor stem cells in the recipient's bone marrow, occurring within $14$ to $21\text{ days}$.

Chimerism

The presence of blood cells displaying donor genetics in a transplant recipient, used to evaluate stem cell transplant success.

Graft-versus-Host Disease (GVHD)

An immune reaction occurring after an allogeneic stem cell transplant where donor immunocompetent T-cells attack host tissues and organs.

Sinusoidal Obstructive Syndrome

A post-transplant liver complication characterized by vascular occlusion, inflammation, jaundice, right upper quadrant pain, ascites, and hepatomegaly.

Reed-Sternberg Cells

Abnormal, giant binucleated lymphocytes found in tissue biopsies that serve as the hallmark diagnostic marker for Hodgkin lymphoma.

Constitutional Symptoms

Systemic symptoms in lymphoma including fevers greater than $101.5^\text{o}\text{F}$, drenching night sweats, and unplanned weight loss exceeding $10\text{\%}$, associated with a poorer prognosis.

Multiple Myeloma

A malignancy of mature B-lymphocytes (plasma cells) causing overproduction of antibodies, bone destruction, hypercalcemia, and Bence Jones proteinuria.

Bence Jones Protein

An abnormal immunoglobulin light-chain protein found in the urine of patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

Tamoxifen

A selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) that blocks estrogen in estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, reducing recurrence risk by $50\text{\%}$.

Anastrozole

An aromatase inhibitor given to postmenopausal breast cancer patients to prevent peripheral conversion of androgen into estrogen.

Lymphedema

Chronic swelling caused by accumulation of lymphatic fluid in an extremity following surgical removal or radiation of lymph nodes.

Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH)

An oncologic emergency caused by excess ADH production, leading to fluid retention, volume expansion, and dilutional hyponatremia.

Spinal Cord Compression

An oncologic emergency caused by tumor invasion or vertebral collapse onto the spinal cord, presenting early with progressive back pain.

Hypercalcemia

A metabolic oncologic emergency common in multiple myeloma and bone metastases, presenting with fatigue, skeletal pain, kidney stones, and EKG changes.

Superior Vena Cava Syndrome

An emergency resulting from obstruction of the superior vena cava by a tumor or clot, leading to venous congestion, periorbital edema, upper chest erythema, and stridor.

Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS)

An oncologic emergency resulting from rapid destruction of massive numbers of cancer cells, leading to acute kidney injury, hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia, and hyperphosphatemia.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma

An epidermal skin cancer occurring in sun-exposed areas, characterized by firm nodular lesions with a crust or central ulceration and indurated margins.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

A slow-growing skin cancer arising from the basal layer of the epidermis, typically presenting as a pearly papule with a central crater and rolled waxy border.

Melanoma

A highly metastatic skin cancer originating from melanocytes or changing moles, evaluated by irregular borders, color changes, rapid growth, or bleeding.