Nursing study guide
Cancer + oncology
Connect altered cell growth with diagnosis, staging, treatment, toxicity, and patient priorities.
Cancer
Abnormal cells grow beyond normal controls and may invade nearby tissue or spread to distant sites.
Individual disease
Tumor site, histology, molecular features, stage, health, goals, and response shape the plan.
Nursing lens
Prevent harm, detect emergencies, manage symptoms, teach clearly, and support informed choices.
Biology
Growth, invasion, and spread change organ function
Cancer is a family of diseases, not one uniform process.
Local effects
Mass, obstruction, bleeding, pain, ulceration, pressure, or loss of organ function.
Systemic effects
Fatigue, weight loss, inflammation, thrombosis, infection risk, metabolic change, and paraneoplastic effects.
Metastasis
Cells can spread through lymphatic, blood, or body-cavity routes; symptoms reflect involved sites.
Detection
Screening is not diagnosis
Screening seeks disease before symptoms and has benefits and harms.
Risk
Age, inherited variants, exposures, tobacco, alcohol, infection, radiation, hormones, immune status, and prior treatment may influence risk.
Screening
Use current age- and risk-specific shared decisions; false positives, false negatives, overdiagnosis, and procedure harms can occur.
Diagnosis
Imaging and laboratory findings may locate concern, but tissue pathology often establishes type and grade.
Biomarkers
Tumor or blood biomarkers may help classify disease, select therapy, or monitor response in specific contexts.
Language
Grade, stage, and response answer different questions
Use the cancer-specific staging system documented by the treating team.
| Term | Meaning | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Histology | Cell and tissue type | Identifies what the cancer is. |
| Grade | How abnormal or aggressive cells appear | May inform expected behavior. |
| Stage | Extent of disease | Uses site-specific systems such as TNM or blood-cancer classifications. |
| Response | Change after treatment | May be complete, partial, stable, progressive, or described by disease-specific criteria. |
Treatment
Different modalities solve different problems
Many plans combine local and systemic therapy.
Surgery
Removes or samples tissue and may diagnose, stage, cure, reduce burden, prevent complications, or palliate symptoms.
Radiation
Uses high-energy treatment for local or regional control; effects depend on dose and exposed tissue.
Chemotherapy
Targets rapidly dividing cells systemically and can also injure normal marrow, GI, hair, reproductive, and other tissues.
Targeted + hormone
Targets specific pathways or hormone dependence; testing and resistance patterns may guide use.
Immunotherapy
Activates or redirects immunity and can cause inflammatory toxicities in almost any organ.
Cellular + transplant
Stem-cell and cellular therapies require specialized conditioning, infection prevention, and toxicity monitoring.
Treatment safety
Verify before exposure
Antineoplastic therapy is high risk and protocol driven.
Before
Verify identity, consent, regimen, cycle, laboratory criteria, organ function, pregnancy risk, allergies, access, dose, route, and premedications.
During
Use required PPE and handling procedures; monitor reaction, access, symptoms, and treatment-specific vital or laboratory parameters.
Extravasation
Stop administration and follow the drug-specific protocol immediately; aspiration, antidote, temperature therapy, and line management vary.
After
Teach body-fluid precautions when applicable, symptom reporting, infection prevention, medicines, hydration, and follow-up.
Common toxicities
Anticipate, prevent, and trend
Side effects vary by person, regimen, dose, timing, and organ exposure.
Marrow
Neutropenia increases infection risk; thrombocytopenia increases bleeding; anemia contributes to fatigue and dyspnea.
GI + nutrition
Mucositis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, taste change, and reduced intake can cause dehydration and weight loss.
Neurologic + function
Pain, neuropathy, cognitive change, sleep disruption, fatigue, weakness, and falls affect daily life.
Organ-specific
Skin, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, endocrine organs, fertility, and sexual health require treatment-specific monitoring.
Emergencies
New symptoms can be time sensitive
Know the patient’s regimen and emergency contact pathway.
| Concern | Possible clues | Immediate nursing priority |
|---|---|---|
| Neutropenic infection | Fever or other infection signs during marrow suppression | Follow the oncology fever pathway immediately; do not delay evaluation. |
| Tumor lysis | Potassium, phosphate, calcium, uric acid, kidney, rhythm, or seizure changes | Urgent laboratory, cardiac, renal, and prescribed prevention or treatment pathway. |
| Spinal cord compression | New back pain, weakness, sensory change, gait change, bowel or bladder dysfunction | Protect safety and escalate urgently. |
| SVC obstruction | Face or neck swelling, venous distention, cough, dyspnea, neurologic change | Assess ABCs, position and escalate urgently. |
| Hypercalcemia | Weakness, constipation, thirst, confusion, rhythm or kidney change | Escalate and follow ordered fluid and treatment plan. |
| Immune toxicity | New diarrhea, dyspnea, rash, jaundice, weakness, headache, or endocrine symptoms | Report promptly; do not dismiss as routine chemotherapy effects. |
Whole-person care
Treatment goals can change over time
Support is appropriate alongside disease-directed therapy.
Symptoms
Assess pain, fatigue, nausea, breathing, bowel function, sleep, mood, cognition, nutrition, mobility, and function.
Goals
Clarify the intent of treatment—cure, control, prevention, maintenance, or palliation—and what matters to the patient.
Support
Include caregivers, fertility and sexual health, work or school, finances, transportation, culture, spiritual needs, and survivorship.
Palliative care
Specialty symptom and goals support can begin at any stage and is not limited to end-of-life care.
Sources
Reference notes
Cancer-specific protocols and the oncology team determine treatment decisions.