The American Cancer Society estimates that by the end of 2012, more than 226,000 women
will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 241,000 men will be diagnosed with
prostate cancer (American Cancer Society, 2012a; American Cancer Society 2012b). With
such prevalence of women’s and men’s cancers, patient education and preventive services
are essential. In clinical settings, advanced practice nurses must assist physicians in
educating patients on risk factors, preventive services, and for patients diagnosed with
cancer, on potential drug treatments. The clinical implications of women’s and men’s
cancer greatly depend on early detection, which is primarily achieved through preventive
services. In this Assignment, you consider the short-term and long-term implications of
cancer and drug treatments associated with women’s and men’s health, as well as
appropriate preventive services.
To prepare:
Select a type of cancer associated with women’s or men’s health such as breast, cervical, or
ovarian cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.
Locate and review articles examining the type of cancer you selected.
Review the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force article in the Learning Resources. Think
about available preventive services that providers might recommend for patients at risk of
this type of cancer.
Select two of the following factors: genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, or behavior. Reflect on
how these factors might impact decisions related to preventive services.
Consider drug treatment options for patients diagnosed with the type of cancer you
selected including short-term and long-term implications of the treatments.
To complete:
Write a 2- to 3- page paper that addresses the following:
Describe available preventive services that providers might recommend for patients at risk
of the type of cancer you selected.
Explain how the factors you selected might impact decisions related to preventive services.
Describe drug treatment options for patients diagnosed with the type of cancer you
selected. Explain the short-term and long-term implications of these treatments.
Use scholarly journals and articles within the last 5 years
Please use the following in your references.
Drugs.com. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.drugs.com/
This website presents a comprehensive review of prescription and over-the-counter drugs
including information on common uses and potential side effects. It also provides updates
relating to new drugs on the market, support from health professionals, and a drug-drug
interactions checker.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. (2012). Recommendations for adults.
This website lists various preventive services available for men and women and provides
information about available screenings, tests, preventive medication, and counseling.
Include a brief introduction and summary
APPLICATION: CANCER AND WOMEN’S AND MEN’S HEALTH 2
Application: Cancer and Women’s and Men’s Health
Cancer is one of the more dangerous diseases affecting many men and women in the
western world. The statistics on the people that are diagnosed with the disease are worrying and
this call for urgent preventive measures to help in reduction of the fatalities that are caused by
cancer. This paper delineates on breast cancer among women and prostate cancer among men, its
factors related to preventive care, treatment and their short and long-term effects.
According to the American Cancer Society, by the end of 2012, around 2410, 000 men
and 2,260,000 women could have been diagnosed with cancer (U.S Preventive Services Task
Force. (2014). According to the US Preventive Service Task Force, breast cancer is the most
common non-skin cancer-affecting women. Statistics indicate that 12.4 % of the women born
today equivalent to one among eight women is likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer during
their lifetime (U.S Preventive Services Task Force, 2014). Between 2005 and 2009, the median
age of women that were diagnosed with cancer was 61 years while the median age among men
was 50 years (U.S Preventive Services Task Force, 2014). This statistics therefore indicates the
need for preventive education to create awareness and to enable people to go for screening
continuously to reduce the rate and the number of deaths.
Providers recommend various preventive services to individuals either at risk of breast or
prostate cancer. For prostate cancer, one of the recommended preventive services that are
usually recommended by the providers is the screening. A Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test
is normally carried out on men at risk (Bostock-Cox, 2013). Other tests that are usually carried
out in symptomatic men include blood and urine tests. Urinary test helps in identification of any
infections in the infection tract that may be the cause of the symptoms. This test may also
identify the presence of glucose- diabetes that usually mimics symptoms related to prostate
APPLICATION: CANCER AND WOMEN’S AND MEN’S HEALTH 3
cancer. DRE tests are also carried out to assess the shape, size and the texture of the prostate.
The normal PSA levels relates to age but in most cases the level of PSA among men aged 50
need to be below 3ng/ml, in men in 60s need to be less than 4ng/ml while in men in 70s it is
required to be less than 5 ng/ml (Bostock-Cox, 2013).
Likewise, patients that are at risk of suffering from breast cancer require screening.
Women are required to seek medical services to determine whether they are at risk or not.
Example of recommended clinical trial that women need to prevent breast cancer includes use of
tibolone and aromatase inhibitors. Aromatase inhibitors are effective in reducing the incidence
of invasive breast cancer among women that are past menopause at high risks of contracting the
disease. Other risk preventive treatment drugs for breast cancer include drugs such as tamoxifen
and raloxifene. These drugs however have some side effects related to uterine abnormalities,
thromboembolic events, cataracts, cardiovascular diseases and other adverse effects (U.S
Preventive Services Task Force, 2014).
The two factors that are likely to impact on the decisions related to preventive services
are the age and the ethnicity. Age is one of the important factors usually taken into consideration
when diagnosing and during initiatives to prevent cancer. Most men that have higher risk of
suffering from prostate cancer are aged above 50 years (U.S Preventive Services Task Force,
2014). Therefore, any person that is nearing the age is advised to seek medical checkup or go for
screening to find out whether they are health or at risk of suffering from the disease. Similarly,
women that are past menopause have higher chances of suffering for breast cancer and it
becomes an important decision making factors when it comes to going for screening. Ethnicity is
also an important factor when it comes to preventive initiatives. Most of the people that comes or
lives in the west have higher chances of suffering from both prostate and breast cancer and
APPLICATION: CANCER AND WOMEN’S AND MEN’S HEALTH 4
therefore, it become prudent for them to go for these check up on regular basis compared to
others that comes from other ethnicities such as the Asians and the Africans in African
continent.
In case aggressive prostate cancer is diagnosed, there is a wide range of treatments
available and which can be administered. These treatment options include surgical removal of
the prostate gland trough a transurethral resection of the prostate or total prostatectomy and
radiotherapy (National Cancer Institute, 2014). Other ways include, testosterone blocking
hormone therapy, which shrinks the tumor reducing the risk of reoccurrence. These treatments
have both short and long-term effects and it becomes essential to discuss them as partners. The
short term implications of these treatment include problems with erecting while long term
effects includes urinary incontinence, hot flushes, weight gain, poor memory and mood swing
(Bostock-Cox, 2013).
On the other, there are different treatment options that providers use to treat breast
cancer. These includes chemotherapy where drugs are used to destroy the cancer cells, hormone
therapy, radiotherapy, surgery to remove the cancer cells or lymph nodes and use of various
medications or drugs. The side effects or implications of using chemotherapy includes, hair loss,
vomiting, nausea, fatigue and increased risk of developing infections (Mayo clinic, 2014). One
of the short term side effects is premature menopause. Lapatinib is one of the medications that
can be used in domination with chemotherapy and has side effects such as diarrhea, painful feet
and hands, heart problems and nausea (Drugs. Com. 2014).
In conclusion, cancer has become a threat to the live of people as it is affecting many
people. The disease can only be managed through creation of awareness on the appropriate
preventive measures. Breast cancer and prostate cancer are some of the types of cancer that
APPLICATION: CANCER AND WOMEN’S AND MEN’S HEALTH 5
continues to claim many lives. Preventive measures reduce the risks of these diseases as well as
their prevalence. Various treatments are available such as surgery for these two kinds of cancer
and if well adopted can help in promoting the health of a patient.
APPLICATION: CANCER AND WOMEN’S AND MEN’S HEALTH 6
References
Bostock-Cox, B. (2013). What practice nurses need to know about prostate disease, Practice
Nurse, 43(1): 10-14.
Drugs. Com. (2014). Drugs.