Oncology Nursing: Epidemiology, Prevention, Care Continuum, and Biology

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering cancer epidemiology, screening guidelines, survivorship, palliative and hospice care, oncology nurse navigation, tumor immunology, and carcinogenesis.

Cancer Epidemiology

The study of the distribution and determinants of cancer in a population.

Prostate Cancer Mortality Disparity

An ethnic health disparity in the United States where African American men are more than twice as likely as white men to die from prostate cancer.

Overweight and Obesity Cancer Burden

A major public health concern associated with approximately $15\%$ of cancer in males and $25\%$ of cancer in females.

Raloxifene

An FDA-approved chemoprevention drug treatment used to reduce the risk of breast cancer in the general population.

5A Model

A clinician-led approach to promote smoking cessation among tobacco users comprising: Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange.

Sensitivity

The ability of a screening test (such as a fecal occult blood test) to correctly identify the presence of a disease.

Cervical Cancer Screening (Age 21–29)

Routine screening guideline recommending a Pap test alone every 3 years for average-risk women in this age range.

Average-Risk Breast Cancer Screening (Age 45 and Older)

Screening guideline recommending that women 45 years of age and older with average risk receive annual mammography.

Screening Mammogram

A routine breast imaging examination scheduled for asymptomatic individuals without a personal history of breast cancer or breast implants.

Cancer Survivor

In relation to cancer survivorship, refers to anyone with a cancer diagnosis, as well as their family and significant others.

Mantle Field Irradiation Surveillance

Secondary malignancy screening protocol recommending an annual mammogram, breast MRI, or both for female patients treated with mantle field radiation for Hodgkin lymphoma at a young age.

Palliative Care

Care that focuses on improving the quality of life for the patient facing serious or life-threatening illness.

Tertiary Palliative Care

Highly specialized palliative care delivered for the most complex cases.

NHPCO Median Hospice Stay (2019)

Data indicating that the median length of time a patient lives while on hospice care in the United States is 18 days.

Modern Hospice Movement

A movement dedicated to the care of terminally ill patients, traced to the 1960s in England under pioneers such as Dame Cicely Saunders.

Terminal Secretions ("Death Rattle")

Pharyngeal secretions that a dying patient is too weak to clear or swallow, managed least invasively by positioning the patient on their side.

Cheyne-Stokes Breathing

An irregular breathing pattern characterized by cyclical waxing and waning of respirations, recognized as a clinical sign of imminent death.

Medical Administration of Nutrition and Hydration (MANH)

Artificial provision of fluids and nutrition in terminally ill patients that is unlikely to prolong life.

Lay Navigator

A trained nonprofessional or volunteer who provides individualized assistance to patients, families, and caregivers to help overcome healthcare system barriers and facilitate timely access to quality health and psychosocial care.

Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+)

A professional navigation organization incorporated in 2009 that offers navigator-specific certifications.

Care Coordination (Navigation Competency)

An ONN competency category defined by facilitating timely scheduling of appointments, diagnostic testing, and procedures to expedite the plan of care and promote continuity of care.

Escape Phase

The phase of the tumor suppression/immunoediting mechanism where cancer clones evade the immune response, leading to the development of new lesions in a patient previously in remission.

Immune Surveillance

The host protection process that occurs when innate and adaptive immunity destroy clinically unmeasurable tumors.

Adaptive Immunity

A specialized branch of the immune system that creates memory cells to produce a longer-lived and specific immune response.

Cytokines

Signaling molecules that function to assist with cell-to-cell communication and coordination during immune responses.

T Cells

Lymphocytes derived from lymphoid stem cells that migrate to the thymus gland for maturation and are integral to immune surveillance and cellular immunity.

Edmonton Symptom Assessment System-Revised (ESAS-r)

A standardized symptom assessment tool used in palliative care that assesses shortness of breath, well-being, and drowsiness, among other symptoms.

Delirium Non-Pharmacological Management

A conservative palliative care intervention aimed at reducing sensory disorientation by ensuring the patient has access to their eyeglasses and hearing aids.

Palliative Performance Scale (PPS)

A functional clinical tool that evaluates patient performance across categories including self-care, oral intake, and level of consciousness.

Medical Aid in Dying

An end-of-life practice also referred to as physician-assisted suicide.

Tumor-Platelet Emboli

Aggregates formed when circulating tumor cells combine with platelets, enabling them to avoid immune detection while traveling through the bloodstream.

Brain Metastasis Primary Source

Non-small cell lung cancer, which is the type of primary malignancy that most frequently metastasizes to the brain.

SHARE Approach (Step 1)

The initial step of the AHRQ 5-step shared decision-making model where the clinician seeks patient participation and frames the existence of treatment choices.

Tumor Suppressor Genes

Genes that normally function to control cell growth; the occurrence of inactivating pathogenic variants in these genes leads to uncontrolled cell proliferation.

Epigenetic Changes

Acquired genetic reprogramming caused by the addition or subtraction of methyl groups within the DNA molecule without altering the underlying DNA sequence.

Resisting Programmed Cell Death

A hallmark biological capability acquired by malignant cells that allows them to evade apoptosis and continue proliferating.

Angiogenesis (Metastatic Process)

The physiological process of developing new vasculature to supply distant tumor deposits with oxygen and nutrients required for growth and expansion.