UK Cancer Stats
This is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK.
What is breast cancer?
Chemotherapy doses are often lowered if this organ is not working well.
What is the kidney or liver?
Growth factors like filgrastim are used to prevent this dangerous chemotherapy complication.
What is neutropenia?
This medication used for gout prophylaxis can dangerously increase toxicity when given with 6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine.
What is allopurinol?
A fever in a neutropenic patient is considered this type of emergency.
What is febrile neutropenia?
This cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the UK.
What is lung cancer?
This class of chemotherapy drugs can cause fatal neurotoxicity if administered intrathecally instead of intravenously.
What are vinca alkaloids (e.g., vincristine, vinblastine, vinorelbine)?
This class of drugs, including ondansetron, helps prevent nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.
What are 5-HT3 receptor antagonists?
Combining warfarin with capecitabine or fluorouracil can cause this lab abnormality.
What is an elevated INR?
Rapid tumor cell breakdown can cause this life-threatening electrolyte imbalance.
What is tumor lysis syndrome?
Nearly 50% of cancer deaths are attributed to modifiable risk factors - name 3.
What are smoking, obesity, alcohol consumption, poor diet, physical inactivity, sun/UV exposure, infections?
Chemotherapy doses are typically calculated based on this measurement of a patient’s body.
What is body surface area (BSA)?
This drug given with methotrexate therapy, “rescues” healthy cells from toxicity.
What is leucovorin or folinic acid?
Proton pump inhibitors can decrease absorption of this oral chemotherapy drug.
What is capecitabine?
Spinal cord compression in a cancer patient can present with this early symptom.
What is back pain or weakness?
About this fraction of all deaths in the UK are caused by cancer.
What is one in four?
These 2 organ systems are most often dose-limiting for many chemotherapy drugs.
What are the bone marrow and gastrointestinal tract?
This medication protects the heart from anthracycline-induced toxicity.
What is dexrazoxane?
This class of antifungals can cause significant increases in cyclophosphamide toxicity by inhibiting its metabolism.
What are azole antifungals?
High calcium levels are commonly caused by this paraneoplastic condition.
What is hypercalcemia of malignancy?
In the UK, someone is diagnosed with cancer about this often.
What is every 90 seconds?
This term refers to the lowest point of a patient’s white blood cell count after chemotherapy.
What is the nadir?
This medication is used to prevent haemorrhagic cystitis caused by cyclophosphamide or ifosfamide.
What is mesna?
This herbal supplement, often used for depression, can lower the effectiveness of many chemotherapy drugs.
What is St. John’s Wort?
This oncologic emergency can occur when chemotherapy vesicants leak outside the vein, causing tissue necrosis.
What is extravasation?