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| Anti-neoplastic agents |
Classification of Anti-neoplastic agents
Antineoplastic agents
The terminological definitional structuring, which forms the work of this thesis, has been restricted to the conceptual category of anticancer-drug, and more specifically, to the antineoplastic agents themselves. We leave aside, then, drugs that tangentially are also used in the treatment of cancer. In this last group, the range extends from antiemetics, to antidepressants to painkillers.
Focusing, then, on chemotherapeutic agents, we observe that specialists have structured them into five large groups. The names they receive in each case, are due to the cytotoxic mechanism of action that the agents possess (alkylating agents and antimetabolites), the physiological type (hormonal), their origin (plant alkaloids) or the general behavior they manifest ( biological response modifier).
Every drug has at least three denominations: the generic name, the commercial name and the acronym. We have avoided the possibility of opting for a preferred term; We understand that it is inaccurate to mark a term as preferred when what is intended is to reach a wide variety of users. There may be no lack of reasons to favor the generic term as the most used, however this is no reason to label others as not accepted. The acceptability or not of a term, or of any of the variants, depends on the nature of the search or the type of user, among other variables. On the other hand, the fact of having marked terms, in some way endows the knowledge base of a normalizing nuance, far from the descriptive character that has been pursued throughout the design and implementation of the system. Each of the three denominations of the same concept, then, will have a place in the definitional structure through an idiosyncratic relationship of the anti-cancer-drug conceptual category.
Among the concepts that cover ATTRIBUTES, we find the toxicity and the administration method. Cytotoxic agents lack an absolute specificity of action, so, together with their antitumor activity, they also cause undesirable effects on healthy body tissues. Some side effects are common to many cytotoxic agents (emesis, alopecia, myelosuppression), while others are specific to the drug or therapeutic group (cardiomyopathy, peripheral neuropathy). In this case, the way to reflect the toxicity in the definition is through an explicit relationship: has-side-effect, which links anticancer-drug with disease-event. However, there is a second possibility of expressing the degree of toxicity, stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO), a gradation ranging from 0 to 5. This second way of expressing toxicity is what we are going to collect in OntoTerm® by means of a scalar ATTRIBUTE: toxicity-grade, which ranges from 0 to 5.
The form of administration is also collected by an attribute, this time literal: way-of-administration. Thus, four types of administration are contemplated, namely: intraarterial (ia), intramuscular (im), intravenous (iv) and oral (o).
We have complemented the anticancer-drug conceptual category with the inclusion, as concepts and as terms, of the combination agents used in polychemotherapy. These are simple antineoplastic structures, which combined before their administration acquire a special behavior, which makes them very active compounds, suitable for use in neoplastic disorders. The reasons for inclusion are mainly of two types, clinical1 and terminographic.
The terminological definitional structuring, which forms the work of this thesis, has been restricted to the conceptual category of anticancer-drug, and more specifically, to the antineoplastic agents themselves. We leave aside, then, drugs that tangentially are also used in the treatment of cancer. In this last group, the range extends from antiemetics, to antidepressants to painkillers.
Focusing, then, on chemotherapeutic agents, we observe that specialists have structured them into five large groups. The names they receive in each case, are due to the cytotoxic mechanism of action that the agents possess (alkylating agents and antimetabolites), the physiological type (hormonal), their origin (plant alkaloids) or the general behavior they manifest ( biological response modifier).
Every drug has at least three denominations: the generic name, the commercial name and the acronym. We have avoided the possibility of opting for a preferred term; We understand that it is inaccurate to mark a term as preferred when what is intended is to reach a wide variety of users. There may be no lack of reasons to favor the generic term as the most used, however this is no reason to label others as not accepted. The acceptability or not of a term, or of any of the variants, depends on the nature of the search or the type of user, among other variables. On the other hand, the fact of having marked terms, in some way endows the knowledge base of a normalizing nuance, far from the descriptive character that has been pursued throughout the design and implementation of the system. Each of the three denominations of the same concept, then, will have a place in the definitional structure through an idiosyncratic relationship of the anti-cancer-drug conceptual category.
Among the concepts that cover ATTRIBUTES, we find the toxicity and the administration method. Cytotoxic agents lack an absolute specificity of action, so, together with their antitumor activity, they also cause undesirable effects on healthy body tissues. Some side effects are common to many cytotoxic agents (emesis, alopecia, myelosuppression), while others are specific to the drug or therapeutic group (cardiomyopathy, peripheral neuropathy). In this case, the way to reflect the toxicity in the definition is through an explicit relationship: has-side-effect, which links anticancer-drug with disease-event. However, there is a second possibility of expressing the degree of toxicity, stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO), a gradation ranging from 0 to 5. This second way of expressing toxicity is what we are going to collect in OntoTerm® by means of a scalar ATTRIBUTE: toxicity-grade, which ranges from 0 to 5.
The form of administration is also collected by an attribute, this time literal: way-of-administration. Thus, four types of administration are contemplated, namely: intraarterial (ia), intramuscular (im), intravenous (iv) and oral (o).
We have complemented the anticancer-drug conceptual category with the inclusion, as concepts and as terms, of the combination agents used in polychemotherapy. These are simple antineoplastic structures, which combined before their administration acquire a special behavior, which makes them very active compounds, suitable for use in neoplastic disorders. The reasons for inclusion are mainly of two types, clinical1 and terminographic.
Anti-neoplastic
Reviewed by M H Islam
on
11:56 AM
Rating:
Reviewed by M H Islam
on
11:56 AM
Rating:
