3rd Midterm Study Guide: Cancer Therapeutics Flashcards
What cancer therapeutic cures 1/3 of cancers?
Local treatment
Surgery, radiotherapy
Chemotherapy is used for…
Advanced diseases
or
as an adjuvant
Where do anticancer medications usually exert action?
Cells in the cell cycle
Cancer therapy usually requires what?
A combination of drugs or drugs combined with radiation and or surgery.
*a single drug is rarely effective against cancer
Successful cancer therapy requires what?
Maximal cell killing within the range of toxicity required by the host.
Cancer therapy requires what to protect the host?
Adjustment of scheduling and overlapping toxicities.
What are the principles of use for Chemotherapy?
- Primary induction for advanced disease or cancers without other treatment alternatives
- Neoadjuvant
- Adjuvant
What is a Neoadjuvant in chemotherapy used for?
localized disease where surgery/radiation alone are inadequate
What is an adjuvant in chemotherapy used for?
in addition to local methods such as radiation/surgery to prevent metastasis
What is important to achieve with drug combination therapy?
They to find a dose that provides maximum cancer-cell death while within there range of toxicity of the host.
What to drug combination therapies try to optimize?
- Efficacy
- Reduced toxicity
- Optimum Scheduling
- Mechanism of Interaction (If possible, Synergism)
- Optimal Dosing
What leads to resistance to radiation and anti-cancer therapy in 50% of all human tumors?
p53 Mutation
What role does p53 play?
It senses sick or abnormal DNA, and it regulates apoptosis.
What cancers are the BRCA 1 and 2 genes related to?
Breast and ovary carcinoma
What is an example of an alkylating agent?
Cyclophosphamide
What is an alkylating agent like Cyclophosphamide used to treat?
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Leukemia
Breast Cancer
What is the mechanism of action of Alkylating agents?
They transfer their alkyl groups to various cell constituents such as DNA (Causing miscoding)
What are the adverse effects of Alkylating agents?
- Nausea, vomiting
- Damage to rapidly growing tissues (GI/oral mucosa)
- Carcinogenic in nature
What is a possible explanation for resistance to Alkylating agents?
increased ability of cancer cells to repair damaged DNA
What are examples of Ntirosoureas?
Procarbazine and Decarbazine
*used for combo therapy of Hodgkin’s lymphoma
What are characteristics of Nitrosoureas?
- they require biotransformation to be effective
- they are highly lipophilic so they are used to treat brain tumors.
What is an example of a Platinum Analog and what does it do?
Cisplatin - used on a broad range of solid tumors.
What are examples of an antimetabolites and what do they do in general?
Methyltrexate and Fluorouracil
*these drugs act on intermediary metabolism of proliferating cells.
Besides cancer therapy methyltrexate is used to treat what?
Rheumatoid Arthritis
*folic acid analog
What does the antimetabolite Fluorouracil do?
Inhibits thymidine synthesis.
What does the antimetabolite methyltrexate do?
- interferes with the formation of DNA, key proteins inhibit tetrahydrofolate.
- treats head, neck, and breast cancers
- causes mucositis and diarrhea.
What are examples of Natural Product Cancer, chemotherapy drugs?
- Vinblastine and Vincristine (Vinca Alkaloids)
- Etoposide
How do Natural Product Cancer, chemotherapy drugs such as Vinblastine and Vincristine work?
Inhibit tubulin* polymerization
*cytoskeleton component
toxicity=mucositis
How does the Natural Product Cancer, chemotherapy drug Etoposide work?
Inhibits topoisomerase II (interferes with DNA structuring)
*semisynthetic form of Mandrake
What is an example of anti tumor antibiotics?
Anthracyclines (Doxorubicin and bleomycin -treat breast cancer)
What does the cancer therapy drug Erlotineb do?
antagonize epidermal growth factors receptors
What are the three cancers noted in the study guide as being treated by cancer therapeutics?
Hodgkins Lymphoma
Breast cancer
Prostate
