Anti-cancer Therapies: Radiation and Drugs Flashcards
What are the key properties of cancer cells?
-reproduce without regard to the normal restraints on cell growth and cell division
-invade and colonize areas normally reserved for other cells
What are tumors/neoplasms?
abnormal cells that grow (increase in mass) and proliferate (divide)
When are tumors considered benign?
when they do not become invasive
When are tumors considered cancerous?
if it acquires the ability to invade surrounding tissue at which point is has become malignant
What are metastases?
cells that break from the primary site and form secondary tumors
Is a single mutation enough to cause cancer?
no
What are potential risk factors for cancer?
-radiation exposure
-UV light from the sun
-Chemicals
-life style (smoking, certain diets)
-viruses (EBV, HIV, and HPV)
Does cancer increase with age?
yes, at an exponential rate
Exposure to what causes an increase prevalence of bladder cancer?
2-napthylamine
What causes an increase is lung cancer mortality?
smoking
What happens to a cell if the control mechanisms detect DNA damage?
it will either try to correct the damage, arrest the cell, or go through apoptosis
What is a key protein that helps to recognize damage to the DNA?
p53
What is the guardian of the genome?
p53
What is the point of using drugs or radiation for cancer treatment?
to damage the DNA of the cancer cells and prevent them from continuing to divide
What is the issue seen with drugs and radiation for cancer treatment?
damaging noncancerous cells
What is external beam therapy?
uses a machine to send high energy beams from outside the body to the tumor area
What is internal radiation therapy?
radioisotope given internally, radiation generally only travels a short distance depending upon the isotope and its energy
What is photon therapy?
use X-rays or Gamma rays
-direct ionization of atoms in the DNA chain or indirect ionization of water to form hydroxyl radicals that can then damage DNA
What is charged particle or proton therapy?
use a particle accelerator to beam high energy particles
-has a better ability to precisely localize the radiation dosage and less damage to surrounding, healthy tissue
which therapy is more targeted?
-photon
-proton
proton therapy is more targeted and will cause less damage to healthy surrounding tissue
What is Doxorubicin hydrochloride (adriamycin)?
it intercalates between base pairs in the DNA helix, thereby preventing DNA replication and ultimately inhibiting protein synthesis
examples of anti-cancer drugs
-doxorubicin hydrochloride
-bleomycin sulfate
-cisplatin
-methotrexate
-vinblastine
What is Bleomycin sulfate?
mixture of the sulfate salts of basic glycopeptide antineoplastic antibiotics
-reduce molecular oxygen to superoxide and hydroxyl radicals
-cause single and double stranded breaks in DNA
What is cisplatin?
highly reactive, charge, platinum complexes which bind to nucleophilic groups such as GC-rich sites in DNA
-induce instrastand and interstand DNA cross-links, as well as DNA-protein cross-links
