Basic Principles of Cancer Treatment (Nursing)

00:00 Hi! Welcome to our video on basic principles of cancer chemotherapy.

00:06 Now, we're gonna focus on cytotoxic medications.

00:10 Those are cell-cyto, toxic- killers.

00:14 Now, before we get started, I want you to stand up and get a little active.

00:19 Now don't worry, no one's gonna be looking at you.

00:21 But I need you to put your pencil down, away from your paper and stand up next to your chair. Ready? Hey, I can wait 'til you can stand.

00:31 Now I wanna teach you, before we get started, I wanna teach you the five areas of high growth fraction cells in your body.

00:39 Now why we're learning this is because cytotoxic medications go after high growth fraction cells.

00:47 Cancer cells are high growth fraction cells but I also have five main areas in my body that are also high growth fraction cells.

00:57 See, here's the deal.

00:58 I wish chemotherapy would just kill the cancer cells.

01:02 But sadly, it kills all the high growth fraction cells.

01:07 So we're gonna do something that kinda helps you get a jumpstart on understanding this video but it's going to involve actions.

01:13 Don't worry, I'm gonna look more ridiculous than you because you can see me and I can't see you.

01:20 But this is how I help students to remember and to learn these concepts.

01:24 Okay, so let's start at the top.

01:26 Start with me.

01:27 Hair, okay. Uhm, this isn't gonna work unless you actually do it with me.

01:33 So, I need you to touch your head.

01:35 Hair. GI. Skin. Reproductive! and Bone marrow.

01:44 Okay, say it with me again.

01:46 I promise you I'm using research-based concepts.

01:49 No matter how silly you're feeling.

01:51 So we're gonna go through this multiple times.

01:54 Hair, GI, Skin, Reproductive! Bone marrow.

01:59 Say it with me.

02:01 Hair, G.. no, I'm serious.

02:03 I need you to do this with me.

02:05 So let's start again.

02:07 Right, ready? Hair. GI. Skin. what's next? Reproductive! and bone marrow.

02:16 Three more times quickly.

02:18 Hair. GI. Skin. Reproductive! bone marrow.

02:22 Hair. GI. Skin. I heard you say, Reproductive! and bone marrow.

02:27 Last time, let's see how fast you can go.

02:30 Hair. Gi. Skin. Reproductive! and Bone marrow.

02:33 Okay, now grab your seat, you did really well.

02:38 As long as... there's a few of you out there that might not have been with me.

02:41 But, this is what we're doing.

02:43 First of all you're standing up and changing your location of studying.

02:47 Anytime you feel kinda stuck studying, move to a different location.

02:51 Don't study in the same place everytime.

02:54 Wake your brain up by moving around.

02:56 Now, I actually did some things that kinesthetic learners actually like, they like movement with their learning.

03:03 I did things that were let's say, somewhat annoying but they also stand out.

03:08 I didn't just say, reproduction.

03:11 I said it in a ridiculous voice but it will stick in your brain better.

03:15 When you do someting that makes it stand out to you, I did it in order, head to toe.

03:21 Hair. GI. Skin. Reproductive! and bone marrow.

03:26 Now when I have to learn a list, one of the things I can do is now take that list.

03:31 When I know it in my mind, it takes several repetitions so I remember the five areas, I do it backwards.

03:37 So then I'll tell my brain: Bone marrow, Reproductive! Skin, Gi, Hair.

03:43 The more you play with that list going in different orders, starting in the middle going backwards to the top of the list.

03:51 All of those things are teaching your brain to look at the concept from multiple different angles.

03:55 So while it might seem silly, I promise you.

03:58 It's actually based in proven research-based strategies on how you can help your brain remember things.

04:04 So now you know the five areas of high growth fraction cells in your body.

04:10 Remember, cytotoxic medications kill high growth fraction cells.

04:15 Cancer is high growth fraction cells but so are high growth fraction cells in my hair, my GI tract, in my skin, in my reproductive! and my bone marrow.

04:29 So let's start from the top and work our way down.

04:33 You got cancer that's just unrestrained growth, right? It's these cells don't follow the rules.

04:39 So I want you to kinda get a feeling of what makes cancer, cancer.

04:43 Why isn't it or how is it different than other cells? First of all, it doesn't follow the rules.

04:49 The growth - it just moves wherever it wants, you can see it, it can hop into that blood stream which we'll talk about in just a minute.

04:56 It just doesn't listen to the feedback mechanisms.

04:59 Other cells are more polite.

05:01 They grow at a responsive rate, they respond when they're getting too big and they stop growing.

05:05 They follow the rules.

05:07 But cancer cells don't follow any rules because they're invasive.

05:11 See that cancer cell that's made it into the blood stream? Well that's gonna let it metastasize - that's when cancer starts in one part of the body and spreads to the lymph and blood into the other parts of the body, metastases.

05:24 So if you're thinking about, what makes a cancer cell, cancer? It doesn't play by the rules, unrestrained growth, it doesn't listen to feedback mechanisms, it's invasive and it can spread to other areas of the body.

05:37 These are the type of cells we're going after.

05:41 Okay, so what can we do to treat cancer? Nobody wants to hear that diagnosis associated with themselves or someone they care about.

05:48 But when you have a diagnosis of cancer, we kinda break it into 3 major categories.

05:52 We can try surgery, cutting it out.

05:55 We can try radiation, zapping it out.

05:58 Or we can try some medications.

06:01 Now under drug therapy for cancer, there's three groups.

06:04 Cytotoxic drugs - those are the ones we're gonna focus on.

06:08 There's, Hormones, which we're not gonna focus on in this video.

06:12 And there's also biologic response modifiers.

06:15 But what we're gonna learn about in this video series are cytotoxic agents.

06:20 So know that when you are treating overall treatment plan of cancer, you could use any combination of these options: surgery, radiation and drug therapy.

06:30 But we're gonna focus on the drug therapy.

06:35 Okay, so chemotherapy drugs are more toxic to cells and tissues that have a high growth fraction.

06:41 Cancer cells have a high growth fraction which is why we did all that.

06:45 I'll call it fun stuff, whether you felt like it with that way or not at the beginning of the video.

06:50 We've got the healthy high growth fraction cells in those five areas that we did together.

06:55 So take a minute, pause the video and see if at a separate area of your note, you can write the five areas of high growth fraction cells in your body from head to toe.

07:14 Okay I'm gonna place the answers on the screen for you there and you see the icons that we chose to help you remember that.

07:20 Hair follicles, GI tract, Skin, Reproductive! and Bone marrow.

07:28 So we've got these 5 icons just to remind you but if you've used your own body in learning and anytime you can do that, that's a great strategy.

07:36 Let's talk about the ways you can actually receive chemotherapy - they're called modalities.

07:41 Now we can give intermittent chemotherapy, what happens is, because of the severe effects of chemotherapy, we'll give a patient a dose and then it'll be a matter of weeks before that patient's blood levels are safe enough for them as to receive another dose.

07:57 So, we give a dose, you monitor the patient over a period of weeks and we watch their blood levels and once they reached a safe level again, we administer another dose.

08:08 That's intermittent therapy.

08:09 Receive a dose, wait some time, receive another dose.

08:14 We can also do combination chemotherapy, where they're getting more than one chemotheraphy at a time.

08:19 and they may be on the same or different schedules.

08:22 Regional drug delivery means that we can actually deliver the medication very close to the spot of the cancer.

08:29 So I've listed three options for you there.

08:32 Take a minute, pause the video and review each one of the three spots where we can deliver regional drug delivery of chemotherapy.

08:47 Okay, here's your chance to study as you go.

08:51 Supercharge your memory! See if you can answer the questions at this point in your notes without looking back at your other notes.

09:00 Okay, so in your notes I want you to answer the question in those 2 blanks.

09:04 What tissue does chemotherapy target? And then below that, write out again - I know, the five areas of high growth fraction.

09:14 I promise you, repetition is the key to memorizing.