Oncology

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Original Editor - Elaine Lonnemann

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Introduction[edit | edit source]

Physiotherapy is an autonomous profession concerned with the care, management and rehabilitation of patients. These principles apply to the management of patients with cancer through all care and rehabilitation programmes from diagnosis to the end of life.  Physiotherapists conduct ongoing assessment of the needs of this patient group and their carers, in order to apply skilled interventions, which are vital for patients’ independence, functional capacity and quality of life.  The role of the physiotherapist, as an essential member of the multi-disciplinary team is key to the successful rehabilitation and management of patients with cancer and palliative care needs. The absence of physiotherapy intervention would be detrimental to patient care and the ability of the patient/family to cope with the effects of the disease or its treatment on their functional capacity and quality of life[1].

Pathophysiology[edit | edit source]

Oncology is the branch of medicine that involves the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and study of cancer. Cancer describes the abnormal growth of cells that results in a large mass known as a tumour. Malignant tumours can spread into and invade surrounding tissues and in some cases the cells can break off and travel to other areas of the body, which is known as metatstasis. Benign tumours on the other hand do not invade surround tissues and do not continue to grow once they have been removed. The regulation of cells is controlled by genetics and it takes changes to genes to create abnormal cancerous cells. Genetic changes can be due to either the loss or gain of chromosomes through mitiosis (definition) or due to mutations, changes in the nucleotide sequence of genomic DNA.

Classification of Cancer[edit | edit source]

Cancers can be classified depending upon the type of cells that are affected

Carcinoma

Sarcoa

Lymphoma

Germ Cell tumour

Blastoma

Benign tumours on the other hand are suffixed by -oma

Leiomyoma

Melanoma

Seminoma

Causes[edit | edit source]

There are several causes of cancer, the most common being genetic mutations due to environmental and lifestyle factors, which account for between 90-95% of cases. The remaining are due to inherited genetics. There are many known environmental factors that increase the risk of developing cancer:

Carcinogens - There are many known carcinogens with the most obviously known one is tobacco. Tobacco is responsible for one in ? deaths worldwide. Recent decreases in the numbers of people smoking has led to a decrease in lung cancer deaths since 1990(ref)

Diet, Exercise and Obesity

Infections

Radiation

Stress

Lack of physical activity

Pollution

Conditions[edit | edit source]

Examination[edit | edit source]

Interventions[edit | edit source]

Outcome Measures[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ The Role of Physiotherapy for People with Cancer - CSP Position Statement. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, July 2003. Available at http://www.csp.org.uk/uploads/documents/csp_statement_physioandcancer.pdf. Retrieved 10/7/2010
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