Diagnosis and Staging of Cancer Report 2022

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Name of Student:
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Diagnosis and staging of cancer
Cancer is one of the life-threatening diseases, which is characterized by the development
of the abnormal cells that has lost the ability to divide. Diagnosis of cancer is important aspect to
detect its stage and provide adequate treatment accordingly (Guan, 2015). It can be done by
various approaches which include physical examination, laboratory test, imaging test and biopsy.
In physical examination, the doctor looks for the presence of lumps of cell, change in skin color,
or increase in size of any organ. In the laboratory test, the blood test and urine test help to detect
the total number of blood cell, which can give idea about the risk of cancer. In imaging stage,
which makes use of CT scan, MRI, PET scan help to detect the presence of internal tumor. The
confirmatory diagnosis test for cancer is biopsy where sample of tissue is removed from the
potential location and made to grow in controlled condition to confirm its metastasis property
(National Cancer Institute, 2019).
The diagnosis of cancer help to detect its stages and doctor accordingly provide treatment
and suggest its curability. According to National Cancer Institute (2019), TNM staging system
help to detect the severity of cancer, where T refers to the size and extent of the tumor cell, N
gives detail about the number of lymph nodes and M detect metastasis property of cancer. In the
first stage, abnormal cells are present which has lost the property of controlled cell division.
They are present in different size and extend but are benign. In second and third stage, there is
high growth of abnormal cell and begin to spread to nearby organs and tissue. The fourth stage is
refer to as advanced stage where the cancer cells has gain the property to invade other tissue and
metastases thus making them cancerous too.

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Complications and side-effects of cancer:
Three major health complications of cancer are:
1. According to the research by Yasir and Mechanic (2019), the major complication of
cancer is inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone which can make the person
dehydration and increases the blood pressure.
2. Cancer can increase the risk of infection as immune system of the person become weak.
3. Weight loss is other complication of cancer, which is associated with fatigue and low
appetite.
The major side effect of cancer treatment includes anemia, constipation, hair loss, edema,
delirium and thrombocytopenia. Such side effect of treatment could lead to low functioning of
immune system, thus making the body weak (Miller et al., 2016).
The methods to lessen physical and psychological effects of cancer treatment are
 Helping the patient with daily living activities.
 Provide stress management technique, which can lower the level of anxiety and
depression in the cancer patient.
 Providing psychotherapy can help in managing the psychological effect.
 Adequate medication could also assist in lowering body pain.
 Physical therapies like hot water bottles and ice pack massage could also be beneficial
(Van Vulpen et al., 2016; Hendrix et al., 2016).

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Factors contributing to yearly incidence and mortality of cancers in Americans:
In America, there is high burden of cancer illness in the growing population which has
contributed to yearly incidence and mortality rate. The most prevalent type of cancers in
Americans are breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer. In
the year 2019, estimated number of cancer cases and death in United States is 1,762,450 and
606,800 (Siegel, Miller & Jemal, 2019). In addition, the mortality rate is found to differ based on
gender and race. According to National Cancer Institute (2017), the rate of cancer related
mortality in United State is 163.5 individuals per 100, 000 men. The predicted mortality rate for
cancer in 2018 was 609, 640. The mortality rate is found to be higher in men compared to
women indicated by the data that mortality rate is highest in African American men compared to
Pacific Islander women.
The major factors that contribute to such high incidence are excessive use of tobacco,
high body weight and body mass, excessive consumption of alcohol, unhealthy lifestyle of
American which includes physical inactivity, exposure to ultraviolet radiation and vaccination
for papillomavirus and hepatitis B virus can also increase the cancer. These factors are known to
interfere with the mechanism of the body which could lead to DNA mutation, thus cause cancer
(Petersen et al., 2015). Breast cancer is a major cause of cancer in United States and the
contributory factors for this include genetic makeup, sex and lifestyle of an individual. Genetic
mutation in the genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 are linked to breast and ovarian cancer in
women (Sun et al., 2017). Lifestyle factors like high rate of smoking is a contributing factor for
development of lung cancers too. For this reason, many tobacco control policies have been
implemented to reduce smoking prevalence and risk of cancer (Islami, Torre & Jemal, 2015).

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Role of the American Cancer Society:
American Cancer Society is nationwide, voluntary health organization which aims to
prevent cancer and lower the suffering by the mean of research, service, advocacy and education.
The ACS is working to lower the rate of incidence of cancer and mortality rate along with
improving the quality of life of the cancer patient. It is the research group which includes health
practice researcher, economist and behavioral scientist. They provide effective education on
cancer treatment, side effects, coping strategies, related medicines, pain control methods, provide
answer about the clinical trials, prevention strategies, method to quit use of tobacco and
screening of cancer. They provide support by giving health service to the patient and medical
equipment for cancer treatment like medicines. It also provide transportation facilities for the
cancer patients in emergency situation or in visit to cancer hospitals. There are many financial
program available for the cancer patient to support them monetarily (American Cancer Society,
2019)..
American Cancer Society (ACS) provides education by publishing patient education
pamphlets, books, brochures and professional journals. They deliver information about the all
type of cancer, its related coping issues and prevention strategies. They offer free day to day help
and emotional support to the cancer patient and family. I would recommend financial program
service to the cancer patient because that many cancer patient cannot afford the treatment cost
which could lead to death of the patient.
Nursing care process for cancer patient:
Nursing process is the important aspect to provide effective care to the cancer patient.
They acknowledge the care and need of the patient. It is evident from the study of () that nursing

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process include five phases which include assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and
evaluation. In the phase of assessment, there is a need for nurse to engage in critical thinking so
that they could assess the vital sign of the cancer patient. The key activities for a nurse during
patient assessment involve assessment of physical and emotional status and completing a
detailed physical examination (Tammy, Toney & Jennifer, 2019). The oncology must be aware
of all laboratory and pathology studies and assess patient’s understanding about disease too. This
will help to avoid misunderstandings and confusions during treatment.
The second stage of the nursing is the formulation of nursing diagnosis and identification
of key health problem in patient using clinical judgment. Apart from the use of current diagnostic
tools to assess problems in patient, nurses diagnose problem in patient utilizing the concept of
Maslow’s heirarchy of needs. This helps to understanding all innate needs of patient which is
important according to patient-centered care outcomes (Tammy, Toney & Jennifer, 2019). This
stage is followed by the planning stage during which goals and outcomes are developed that
could influence patient outcomes. Nurse prepare specific care plan for patient based on
identification of holistic needs of cancer patient. They tailor the care plan according to the unique
needs of cancer patient and the focus is to ensure that the plan promotes physical and
psychological comfort for patient, compliance with treatment and facilitates patient’s
understanding of therapies and treatment schedules (Mackey et al., 2018).
The fourth stage of the nursing process includes the implementation stage where nurses
implement nursing interventions according to the care plan (Tammy, Toney & Jennifer, 2019). In
the context of cancer patient, key nursing interventions that is implemented includes safe drug
handling, administration of neoplastic drugs and chemotherapy and symptom management of
patient. For example, nausea, vomiting and fatigue are common symptoms experienced by

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cancer patients during the treatment and the nurse can play a role in the assessment and
management of these symptoms (Mackey et al., 2018). Apart from direct care, nurses implement
indirect care to patient in the form of patient education. This involves taking the steps to educate
family and patient during and after therapy and assist patient in coping with the disease
throughout the treatment. The final stage of the nursing process is the evaluation stage which
involves reassessment and evaluation of patient’s clinical outcomes to judge the effectiveness of
treatment and nursing interventions for cancer patient. This can help to confirm whether desired
outcome for patient has been achieved or not (Tammy, Toney & Jennifer, 2019).
Nursing preparation to utilize the nursing process:
The nursing education and qualifications undertaken by nursing students determines their
preparation for nursing practice and application of the nursing process in actual clinical scenario.
Currently, undergraduate education in liberal arts and science studies is important to develop
foundation of nursing knowledge as this education facilitates nursing students to think in
different ways and deal with diversity and complexity in care (Rodgers et al., 2017). According
to Kooken and Kerr (2018), liberal arts and sciences are the core part of the educational nursing
curriculum as develops critical thinking, creativity and holistic care skill. With the diversity of
health consumers seeking health services, nursing students with liberal arts education can get the
opportunity to improve their communication skills, think globally and navigate diversity. A
patient may have complex clinical, psychosocial, spiritual and economic needs and nursing
students in liberal arts get the opportunity to understand these myriads of needs of health
consumers. Mathematics, social and physical sciences is an inter-disciplinary research area for
nursing students too. As public health practice is mostly patient dependent on collaboration
across various disciplines, embracing research in other diverse field is important too. This new

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interdisciplinary research area can help nurse to achieve high level of functioning commensurate
with high level of integration. This can help to overcome challenges in transdisciplinary team
science (Kneipp et al., 2014).

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References:
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Miller, K. D., Siegel, R. L., Lin, C. C., Mariotto, A. B., Kramer, J. L., Rowland, J. H., ... &
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Van Vulpen, J. K., Peeters, P. H., Velthuis, M. J., Van Der Wall, E., & May, A. M. (2016).
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