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Mnemonics to memorise this table
Here are mnemonics to lock in every row of Table 3.2:
CHEMICALS
Agent → Cancer quick-links
"A Angry Alcoholic Arsenic Addict Certainly Never Needs Very Nasty Chemicals"
(First letters: Aflatoxins, Alkylating, Alcohol, Arsenic, Asbestos, Cigarette, Nitrosamines, Naphthylamine, Vinyl chloride, Nickel/chromium/beryllium/silica)
Individual associations
| Agent | Mnemonic |
|---|---|
| Aflatoxins → Hepatocellular Ca | "Aspergillus Feeds the Hepatocyte" - AF = Aspergillus → liver |
| Alkylating agents → Leukemia/Lymphoma | "Alkyl KILLS the Blood" - chemo side effect kills marrow |
| Alcohol → SCC oropharynx/esophagus + HCC | "Alcohol Burns the Throat then Kills the Liver" - top to bottom path |
| Arsenic → SCC skin, lung + angiosarcoma liver | "ARSenic = Skin, Lung, Angiosarcoma" → ARSLA |
| Asbestos → Lung + Mesothelioma | "AsBEStos → BEStows Lung & Meso" (lung > meso in frequency) |
| Cigarette → Oro, esoph, lung, kidney, bladder, pancreas | "Old Elephants Love Kissing Big Pandas" = Oropharynx, Esophagus, Lung, Kidney, Bladder, Pancreas |
| Nitrosamines → Stomach | "Nitro-SMOKED food → STOMach" - smoked foods, Japan |
| Naphthylamine → Bladder | "NaphthylaMINE → urINE tract (bladder)" - both have -ine/-ine |
| Vinyl chloride → Angiosarcoma liver | "Vinyl = Vascular liver" - PVC pipes, angiosarcoma |
| Nickel/Chromium/Beryllium/Silica → Lung | "Factory workers BREATHE in Nickel Chrome" - all occupational, all lung |
ONCOGENIC VIRUSES
Mnemonic sentence: "Every Horrible Hepatitis Haunts High-risk People"
(EBV, HHV-8, HBV/HCV, HTLV-1, High-risk HPV)
| Virus | Mnemonic |
|---|---|
| EBV → Nasopharyngeal Ca, Burkitt lymphoma, CNS lymphoma (AIDS) | "EBV = Epstein Bugs Various spots" - Naso, Burkitt, CNS. Or: "NBC" = Naso, Burkitt, CNS |
| HHV-8 → Kaposi Sarcoma | "HHV-8 = HIV's partner = Kaposi" - both associated with AIDS |
| HBV/HCV → Hepatocellular Ca | "Hep B/C → Hep-atocellular" - same organ, easy match |
| HTLV-1 → Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma | "HTLV = Has T-cell Leukemia/lymphoma Virus" - T is in the name |
| High-risk HPV (16,18,31,33) → SCC vulva/vagina/anus/cervix + adenoCa cervix | "HPV 16/18 = Sweet Sixteen hits the Cervix" - all anogenital; "16, 18 = Sweet 16, Legal 18" |
RADIATION
| Type | Mnemonic |
|---|---|
| Ionizing → AML, CML, papillary thyroid Ca | "Ionizing Radiates the Blood and Thyroid" = AML/CML + Thyroid. Mechanism: hydroxyl free radicals = "Ionizing Hits with Hydroxyl hammers" |
| Non-ionizing (UVB) → BCC, SCC, melanoma | "UV = Ugly Burns Make 3 Skin Cancers" - BCC, SCC, Melanoma. Mechanism: pyrimidine dimers = "UV Dimers the DNA" |
Master Memory Hook
"A² A² CNickel... NBC-HHV-HTLV-HPV... Ion-UV"
Visualize a timeline: a farmer eating aflatoxin rice → drinks alcohol → smokes cigarettes → works in a factory (asbestos/nickel) → gets a virus (EBV/HPV) → gets radiation therapy → develops cancer.
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