Implications of High Growth Fraction in Cancer Cells
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A biopsy of a client's liver has been taken because there is suspicion that their lung cancer may have metastasized. The results confirm that there are cancerous cells in the client's liver and the oncologist has estimated a high growth fraction in the sample. The nurse should draw what implication from this finding?
A large proportion of the cells in the sample are actively dividing.
The doubling time of the mass is increasing.
Embryonic stem cells are present in the sample and represent a high risk for tumor growth.
The neoplastic cells in the tissue sample have achieved their maximum size.
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In this clinical scenario, we're looking at a liver biopsy that shows cancerous cells from metastasized lung cancer. The key finding is a high growth fraction. Let's analyze what that means.
Clinical Analysis
Finding: High Growth Fraction
First, we need to define the term growth fraction in the context of oncology.
growth fraction:
The ratio of proliferating cells to total cells in a tissue sample.
When an oncologist reports a high growth fraction, it means that a large percentage of the cells in the tumor are currently undergoing mitosis, or cell division.
Let's look at the first option. It states that a large proportion of the cells in the sample are actively dividing. This matches our definition exactly.
Option 1: A large proportion of the cells... actively dividing.
What about the other choices? Option two mentions doubling time. If a tumor is growing quickly due to a high growth fraction, the doubling time would actually decrease, not increase.
~~Option 2: Doubling time is increasing.~~
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