Oncology

March 9

Vocab:
Carboplatin- a chemotherapy drug used with ovary, lung, head, and neck cancers.

Today I was able to watch radiation treatment on a dog with a tumor in his lip. Unfortunately I was unable to be in the room because I was under 18, which made me dissappointed (F). But there were cameras with which I could see what they did in the other room (D). Which radiation is interesting but there is really nothing that you can see besides the dog laying there twitching (the medication's side effect). I was also able to see how they injected chemotherapy on a dog that had small cancerous tumors. As one of the students described how chemotherapy worked. He said that the injection would break down and kill the cells that grow quickly. Which is the reason that when people get chemotherapy done they lose their hair, the cells in your hair grow rapidly making them a target as well. But by breaking down the mass, the dog's system would sometimes have allergy symptoms. This is the reason that Claratin is given to the dog after the chemotherapy (D). However, in comparison to people, other animals respond better to chemotherapy. They do not have hairloss or show many signs of sickness. I know understand the reason why that chemotherapy target certain cells and know the reasons for all of the possible side effects(A).