Anticancer Flashcards
Define Cancer
When cells abnormally divide without control and invade other cells.
There is a loss of regulatory mechanisms
Rogue Cells
Cells that have lost their specialized characteristics
Benign cells
Noncancerous, abnormal tissue growth
Malignant Cells
Cancerous cells that can invade other parts of the body
BRCA1 & BRCA2 genes
These are normally tumor suppressing proteins be once mutated will cause the protein not to work
These mutation can be INHERITED and are the cause of breast cancer
Proto-oncogenes
Normal genes that code for proteins in control of cell division and differentiation
Mutations cause cancer (oncogenes)
Ras Gene
A Common mutation site that leads to continuous cell division and cancer
Anti-Oncogenes
Inactive tumor suppressor genes
Genetic defects can lead to
Abnormal:
signalling pathways, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, angiogenesis (for tissue invasion and metastasis)
Carcinoma is cancer of the
Epithelial cells
- Breast
- Prostate
- Colon
- Lung
Sarcoma is cancer of the
-Connective tissue (cartilage, fat, etc)
Lymphoma and Leukemia is cancer of the
-lymph system and bloodstream/blood cells
Germinoma is cancer of the
germ cells, testicles and ovary
Blastoma is
a tumor of primitive or incompletely differentiated cells
Phases of cancer
- Initiation
- initial mutation in gene - Promotion
- increase proliferation of mutated cell - Progression
- malignant tumor forms - Metastasis
- cells break off and lodge at remote sites
Chemotherapy is used to
- reduce size of tumor before surgery
- Sensitize tumors to radiation
- destroy microscopic tumors after surgery
NOTE: the therapy is NOT specific and affects both normal and cancer cells!
Chemotherapy relies on what property of cancerous cells?
It assumes cancer cells take up extracellular material (ie. drugs) faster than normal cells (therefore more drugs get into cancer cells)
Antimetabolites are
precursor molecules that look very similar and can be incorporated in pathways as the actual molecule
-but they are different enough so that there is no result after incorporation
Bevacizumab
Neutralizes VEGF to treat metastatic colorectal cancer
Cetuximab
Binds EGFR to treat metastatic colorectal carcinoma
Ipilimumab
Binds CTLA-4 to treat metastatic melanoma
Nivolumab
Inhibits T cell proliferation to programmed cell death
Ofatumumab
binds CD20 for CLL
Panitumumab
Binds EGFR
Rituximab
Binds to CD20 to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
