Chapter 14: Antineoplastic Agents
A patient who will begin chemotherapy voices concern to the nurse about the accompanying nausea and vomiting. What is the best response by the nurse?
"We can relieve your nausea and vomiting with antiemetic drug therapy. You should ask for these medications whenever you need them."
A parent hears the health care provider using the word extravasation. The parent asks the nurse what extravasation means. What would be a correct answer?
A parent hears the health care provider using the word extravasation. The parent asks the nurse what extravasation means. What would be a correct answer?
An adult client has recently begun cancer treatment with methotrexate (MTX). When reviewing this client's laboratory work, the nurse should consequently prioritize assessment of what
BUN and creatinine
A child is prescribed an anthracycline drug. The nurse would teach the parents to observe for signs and symptoms of what adverse effect?
Cardiotoxicity
A patient is to receive doxorubicin as treatment for leukemia. The nurse would instruct the patient that the typical cycle would be repeated at which frequency?
Every 3 weeks
A 26-year-old man with testicular cancer is prescribed combination chemotherapy that involves using two drugs that are effective against testicular tumors. Combination drug therapy is superior to single-drug therapy because of:
Higher tumor response rates
A client's chemotherapeutic regimen includes procarbazine. What is the client's most likely diagnosis?
Hodgkin lymphoma
A male client is diagnosed with prostate cancer. The treatment modality of choice includes both surgery and chemotherapy. What does the chemotherapeutic option include?
Hormonal therapies
A client's chemotherapy regimen has been deemed successful, but the client is experiencing debilitating nausea and vomiting. These adverse effects should signal the nurse to the possibility of what nursing diagnosis?
Imbalanced nutrition: less than body requirements
How can a nurse best prevent tissue damage caused by an antineoplastic extravasation?
Inspect the site frequently for redness or swelling
A female client is ending an extensive chemotherapeutic regimen that included cytotoxic antineoplastic drugs. What does the nurse understand about bone marrow toxicity in this client?
It is a common adverse effect of her treatment.
A patient is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Why is this considered to be an aggressive form of cancer?
It is fed by the hormones produced by the ovaries.
Chlorambucil has been ordered for a patient with Hodgkin's disease. The patient's son asks the nurse what this drug does. What would be the nurse's best answer?
It is palliative chemotherapy used to relieve pain associated with tumor."
A male patient has been on long-term bicalutamide therapy. In order to assess adverse effects of the drug therapy, the nurse will closely monito
Liver function
Which agent would the nurse expect to be administered orally?
Methotrexate
Which would the nurse identify as an antineoplastic antibiotic?
Mitomycin
A male client is informed that the latest tests indicate that his cancer has spread to his liver. The client receives capecitabine as part of his treatment regimen. What would the nurse expect the health care provider to do?
Monitor the client closely and repeat LFTs routinely.
A patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) will be starting a course of doxorubicin shortly. When planning this patient's care, what nursing diagnosis should the nurse prioritize?
Risk for Infection related to suppressed bone marrow function
A client with a diagnosis of bladder cancer is started on a chemotherapeutic regimen that includes three agents. What is the rationale for using multiple antineoplastic agents?
The use of three agents decreases the development of cell resistance.
What potential benefit is unique to biologic agent therapies?
They may affect cancer cells while leaving normal body cells unaffected.
An adult client who has been diagnosed with a rectal tumor is scheduled to begin treatment with cisplatin. The nurse has conducted client teaching about the possibility of nausea and vomiting. In order to reduce the client's risk of severe nausea, the nurse should:
administer a combination of antiemetics prior to the administration of the drug
The nurse may be asked to administer which medications to a client to counteract the increase in uric acid and subsequent hyperuricemia resulting from the metabolic waste buildup from rapid tumor lysis?
allopurinol
The oncology nurse understands that chemotherapeutic agents are most effective during a particular phase of the cell cycle. This means the agents are:
cell cycle-specific.
A nurse educator is discussing the role of protooncogenes in the pathophysiology of cancer. What typically triggers protooncogenes to differentiate into oncogenes?
exposure to carcinogens
A female client prescribed methotrexate for meningeal leukemia is asking the nurse about adverse effects of the drug. What would the nurse tell this client should be avoided while taking methotrexate?
pregnancy
A client asks the nurse what cancer cell growth is called. What would the nurse tell the client?
proliferation