A nurse explains to a patient with cancer why it is difficult to ...

[fnuegbu]

A nurse explains to a patient with cancer why it is difficult to achieve 100 cell kill to cure cancer with chemotherapy. Which statement by the patient indicates a need for further teaching?
 
  a. It is necessary to continue giving the same dose of chemotherapeutic agents throughout therapy, even if toxicity oc-curs.
  b. Symptoms of cancer often disappear be-fore all malignant cells are eradicated.
  c. The immune system attacks chemothe-rapeutic agents and renders them impo-tent.
  d. The immune system often fails to recog-nize cancer cells as foreign.

Question 2

A nurse is teaching a group of nursing students about how cytotoxic anticancer drugs affect normal cells. Which statement by a student indicates an understanding of this teaching?
 
  a. Cytotoxic drugs lack tissue specificity.
  b. Cytotoxic drugs have a high degree of selective toxicity.
  c. Differences between cancer cells and normal cells are qualitative.
  d. Neoplastic cells and normal tissue cells are very different.

[Pariscourtney]

Answer to Question 1

C
The immune system does not attack chemotherapeutic agents, so this statement would indicate a need for further teaching. The same dose of chemotherapeutic agents must be given throughout therapy, which becomes difficult when patients have severe toxic reactions. Because cancer symptoms often disappear before all cells are killed, some therapies are stopped prematurely. The immune system does not recognize cancer cells as foreign and thus does not assist in cell kill.

Answer to Question 2

A
Cytotoxic drugs kill target cells as well as normal cells, since they lack specificity for cancer cells alone. Cytotoxic drugs therefore have a low degree of selective toxicity. The differences between cancer cells and normal cells are quantitative and not qualitative. Neoplastic cells and normal cells are very similar.

[fnuegbu]

Excellent

[peter]

Gracias!