02 Principles of Cancer Treatment Wolf

Question 1

What is important to remember about the differences between experimental animal models and human tumors?

Answer 1

Animal tumors are generally homogeneous; human tumors are mostly heterogeneous

Question 2

What is “collateral damage” in cancer treatment?

Answer 2

Due to cell similarity, agents used in the treatment of cancer can also affect non-cancerous cells

Question 3

What do Antiangiogenic agents do?

Answer 3

Cut off the blood supply. If we can “starve” the cancer cells, proliferation will stop and existing cells will “starve”

Question 4

How is anticancer drug testing inherently different in Phase I than the testing of drugs that are not cytotoxic?

Answer 4

Phase I is for determining toxicity and the MTD (Maximum toelrated dose: can only be done on cancer patients). Phase II is for determining antitumor effects and spectrum of action. Phase III is for comparing new drug with existing treatment options

Question 5

What is the current definition of response to cancer chemotherapy (Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors: RECIST)?

Answer 5

Complete Response (CR): Disappearance of all target lesions. Partial Reponse (PR): At least a 30% decrease in the sum of longest diameter (LD) of target lesions taking as reference the baseline sum LD