NRS 410 Topic 2 Assignment Approach to Care

Approach to Care of Cancer

Pathophysiology and Nursing Management of Clients health- GCU
RN, CCM

Approach to Care of Cancer

Cancer is a disease caused by a malignant growth (or tumor) that attaches itself to numerous parts of the body. When affected by cancer the abnormal cells divide uncontrollably which causes the body to not be able to fight off the attack on the immune system. The process of having this disease can be overwhelming not just for the patient but for their loves one as well. The approach to care of cancer must start with the diagnosis, and staging. Following these two steps are the complications of cancer, side effects from the treatment, and methods to relieve this pains. These steps should make the process a little easier for the patient and their loves one to endure the hard road to come.

According to the Cherrla’s article diagnosis of cancer is not the most ideal way. She goes on to state that the, “Test are accurate but invasive, and treatments are “one-size fits- all”, (Cherrla, 2017). Cherrla’s statement is generalizing the entire process of cancer diagnostic, meaning all the diagnostic is the same for everyone. Cherrla goes on to say that the process should be more personalized to fit the needs of all cancer patients. Further in her studies she continues to states that “miRNA’s have garnered significant attention as cancer biomarkers, this is due to the continuous circulation in the blood and their stability”, (Cherrla, 2017). Her studies and several others show that miRNA is very effective when diagnosing specific cancer; however it’s not as effective in predicting the best way treatment option for the cancer patient. Another source suggests the same process in diagnosing cancer as well. Heinzelmann states in his research that,” for many years he’s know, that miRNAs are actively packed in exosomes which can be released into body fluids.  Therefore, he was able to predict that in a simple blood based test he would be able to use specific miRNA signatures as minimal invasive biomarkers for confirmation of the diagnosis and evaluation of the metastatic risk for patients with cancer” (Heinzelmann, 2016). When tested for cancer, biomarkers are used to figure out what kind of cancer the patient has this is a look inside as to how bad the cancer, which leads to stages of cancer.

Staging is probably the most important part of understanding cancer. It allows the patient to understand what is happening in their body, what their odds are, and what to expect. The process of staging is someone easily divided into four sections. The actually definition of the staging process of cancer is when the doctor has to measure how far the cancer has spread inside of the body. This process usually takes place after being diagnosed. Stages range from zero to four. Stage zero (Early stage) is called the ‘in-situ’ cancer; it’s given this name because it tends to be in the same place where the cancer was started and hasn’t spread. Stage one is still small however it has spread to nearby tissues, but not to any other places of the body. Stage two (Localized) and three  (Regional Spread) of cancer is when the cancer is much larger than before and has spread into more tissues and now into the lymph nodes of the body. Stage four (Distant Spread) is when the cancer has spread too many areas of the body. This is when cancer is consider advanced or metastasis. This stage is usually the final stage in cancer. After finding out what stage the patient may have, it’s best for them to understand the complications of cancer and the complications of the treatments for cancer.

Different types of cancers can cause different type of complications. The patient may experience these complications during the disease process or after the tumor has been removed. Most of the complications listed next will be after the tumor have been removed from the patient. In a studies produced by Collet, it was noted that having esophageal cancer could led to cardiovascular risk. Collet did an esophagectomy vascularization of the gastric conduit from the gastric artery (Collet, 2016). This operation alone could’ve lead to leakage in the heart. He goes on to state that, “patients with esophageal cancer have frequently impaired cardiac functions and possibly an atherosclerotic vascular disease” (Collet, 2016). If a patient finds out that they may have esophageal cancer they may experience a complication like this one which could lead to them receiving another disease which could only compromise their immune system even further.

 Another complication with cancer is age. If your patient is of older age their body isn’t going to recuperate as quickly as it once did at a younger age, and on top of that the immune is under attack which will cause the healing process to slow down even further. An example of this complication is given by Margadant study. Margadant did a study on lower muscle density and how it’s a major complication for older patients with colorectal cancer. In his study it shows that due to older people’s reduced muscle density they are at an increased risk for postoperative complications (Margadant, 2016). These results are hard to hear, because once again once disease is causing another life threatening issue for the patient. Cancer doesn’t see age it just attacks.

The last complication I’ll be discussing is one that could affect anyone who has any type of cancer. In Dreizen’s research the therapy he gives his patients to help with cancer can also affect them negatively. Due to the amount of therapy treatments Dreizen is given his clients, he’s seeing that it is affecting their mouths, in a dramatic way. Dreizen states that because of “stomatogic complications of radiotherapy oral cancer are physical and physiological in nature” (Dreizen, 2016). With this complication comes infections, hemorrhaging, nutritional issues, and ultimately neurological problems (Dreizen, 2016). Once again another complication from cancer when the method is supposed to be helping the problem. Even though most of these complications came from post-surgery treatment can either help or worsen cancer as well.

The sides of effects of treatment for cancer are usually not as bad as the disease itself. Some of the listed side effects include anemia, loss of appetite, diarrhea, edema, fatigue, constipation, delirium, and due to lack of the immune system functioning properly the side effects may also led to bleeding and bruising. This list is just a variation of side effects that have been known to harm cancer patients however these effects can differ patient to patient. To help patients with their psychological and physical effects it best to start with their physician.

When approaching their patient a patient should start off telling their physician the side effects that they’ve been experiencing and how it makes them feel. Following that their physician will come up with methods to help them through their time of need.

In Cardoso research he was able to show light on what some cancer patients feel is important to their recover process. In his research he studied women who were fighting breast cancer and these women express the need for support from loved ones, more education about their disease so they can feel knowledge about what’s affecting them, and more support from their work place (decline in income since diagnosis). Helping aid these patients with these minor things could make a different for their help. Methods to help patients would be to listen to them in their time of need, some caregivers and physicians understand what’s happening medically but they need to be more understanding. Get the patient more active, socially and physically. This will increase their health as well as their mood and its best to set them up with a professional to speak to about how they’re coping with this disease.

Caring for patients with cancer is a difficult task. These patients just received terrible news and they either can except their faith or fight it. With our help they will mostly likely try to fight this disease because were approaching cancer with care. Caring for the patients is our first priority. It’s our job to help them get through this tough time with individuals who they can trust and who understand the methods to this devastating disease. We are here for our patients.

                                       References:

Cardoso, F., Harbeck, N., Mertz, S., & Fenech, D. (2016) Involving psychosocial, emotional, functional, support needs of women with advance breast cancer: Results from the Count Us, Know Us, Join Us & Here and Now surgery. The Breast, 28, 5-12

Cherrla, N., & Gevaert, O. (2017). MicroRNA based Pan-Cancer Diagnosis and Treament Recommendation.  BMC Bioinformatics. 181-11. doi: 10.1186/s12859-016-1421-y

Collet, D., Gronnier, C., Luc, G., Chevalier, R., Guinard, E., Dantrem, K., & Meunier, B. (2016). The role of cardiovascular risk factors on postoperative course after esophageal cancer surgery. Annals of Oncology, 27(suppl 6), 631P.

Dreizen, S. (1989). Oral complications or cancer therapies. Description and incidence of oral complications. NCI monographs: a publication of the National Cancer Institute, (9), 11-15.

Heinzelmann, J., Baumgart, S., Hoelters, S., Janssen, M., Stöckle, M., & Junker, K. (2016). Blood-based exosomal miRNAs as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of clear cell renal cell cancer.

Margadant, C., Bruns, E., Sloothaak, D., van Duijvendijk, P., van Raamt, A., van der Zaag, H., & … van der Zaag, E. (2016). Lower muscle density is associated with major postoperative complications in older patients after surgery for colorectal cancer. European Journal Of Surgical Oncology, 421654-1659. doi:10.1016/j.ejso.2016.05.04

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