AOCNP study guide
AOCNP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner (AOCNP®) credential is offered by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC), a certification body for nurses in oncology and related specialties. It is designed for advanced practice registered nurses - nurse practitioners - who manage patients with cancer across the care continuum, and it signals validated, current oncology knowledge to patients, employers, and interdisciplinary teams. The AOCNP study guide has 5 sections and about 1,581 words.
01Science of Oncology: Carcinogenesis, Gene Classes, Growth Kinetics, and Metastasis
Carcinogenesis is a multistep process of initiation (irreversible DNA damage), promotion (clonal expansion of the initiated cell), and progression (accumulating alterations and invasive capacity). Questions usually test whether you can assign a gene or process to the correct functional class.
329 words, about 2 min02Cancer Prevention, Detection, and Diagnosis: Screening, Risk, Tissue, and Staging
Screening applies a test to asymptomatic, average-risk people; diagnosis confirms disease in symptomatic patients or those with abnormal screening. Know the major programs: colorectal screening from age 45 (colonoscopy or stool-based testing), biennial mammography from 40–74, cervical HPV-based testing beginning at 21–25, annual low-dose CT for lung cancer in adults 50–80 with at least 20 pack-years who currently smoke or quit within 15 years, and shared decision-making for PSA.
332 words, about 2 min03Cancer Treatment Modalities: Local Therapy, Systemic Agents, and Response Assessment
Surgery aims at complete resection (R0 = negative margins, R1 = microscopic, R2 = gross residual) and may be curative, debulking, or palliative. Radiation is delivered as external beam, brachytherapy, or stereotactic ablative therapy; effect depends on total dose, fractionation, volume, and radiosensitizers.
323 words, about 2 min04Supportive, Palliative, and End-of-Life Care: Toxicity Control, Pain, and Goals
Antiemetic prophylaxis is matched to emetogenicity: highly emetogenic regimens receive a 5-HT3 antagonist plus an NK1 antagonist plus dexamethasone, often with olanzapine, plus coverage for delayed nausea. Febrile neutropenia - one temperature of 38.3 °C or higher, or 38.0 °C sustained over an hour, with ANC below 500/µL (or below 1000 predicted to fall) - requires empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics within about 60 minutes.
310 words, about 2 min05Survivorship and Coordination of Care: Care Plans, Late Effects, and Transitions
Every patient completing curative-intent treatment needs a survivorship care plan : treatment summary, surveillance schedule, late-effect risks, health-promotion advice, and explicit designation of who is responsible for each follow-up element. Shared care with primary care works only when responsibilities are documented.
287 words, about 1 min