I.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. Chemotherapy - is the treatment of cancer with one or more cytotoxic antineoplastic drugs ("chemotherapeutic agents") as part of a standardized regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent or it may aim to prolong life or to palliate symptoms. 2. Adjuvant Therapy - also called as adjuvant care, is a treatment that is given in addition to the primary, main or initial treatment. An example of adjuvant therapy is the additional treatment usually given after surgery where all detectable disease has been removed, but where there remains a statistical risk of relapse due to occult disease. The purpose of Adjuvant is to help health professionals and patients with early cancer discuss the risks and benefits of getting additional therapy (adjuvant therapy: usually chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or both) after surgery. 3. Neoadjuvant Therapy - in contrast to adjuvant therapy, is given before the main treatment. For example, systemic therapy that is given before removal of a breast is considered neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The main purpose of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is to increase the surgical options for women who would need a mastectomy if they had surgery first. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can sometimes shrink a large tumor enough so that a woman can have a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy as her breast surgery. 4. Cancer - known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a broad group of various diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the body through the lymphatic system or bloodstream. Not all tumors are cancerous. Benign tumors do not grow uncontrollably, do not invade neighboring tissues, and do not spread throughout the body.

5. Chemotherapeutic Agents - these are pharmacologic agents that are known to be of use in the treatment of cancer. 6. Antineoplastic Agents - also known as Anticancer Agents, are pharmacologic agents that inhibits or prevents development of neoplasms; checking maturation and proliferation of malignant cells. 7. Extravasation - refers to the escape of a chemotherapy drug into the extravascular space, either by leakage from a vessel or by direct infiltration. In infiltration, it describes leakage of fluids or blood from damaged blood vessels as a result of medical interventions. As part of a disease process, infiltration is sometimes used to define the invasion of cancer cells into the underlying matrix or the blood vessels. 8. Metastasis - or metastatic disease, is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part.

II. PURPOSES OF ADMINISTERING CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS

1. Kills malignant cell growth in the body 2. Keeps the cancer cells from spreading and duplicating to the other parts of the body 3. Eases symptoms of cancer 4. Slows the growth of cancer cells