AntiNeoplasic Agents Flashcards
cytotoxic agents of chemotherapy
DNA damaging agents
chemotherapy
nonspecific drugs selected for clinical testing without a known mechanism of action. somehow damages or interferes with the production of DNA.
rational drug development
identification of a specific biological target and make components that block or stimulate it
in which phase of the cell cycle do most cancer drugs work?
S phase
p53 & Rb
tumor suppressor gene (p53) and antagonist. key regulators of the cell cycle. both activated by phosphoryation.
p53 regulation
phosphorylation prevents cell cycle progression and activates damage repair or apoptosis (via more phosphorylation)
Rb regulation
phosphorylation activates cell cycle progression. progressive lack of Ps leads to repair or apoptosis
what makes cancer cells susceptible to chemotherapy?
already have mutations, DNA repair mechanisms are impaired, divide frequently
chemotherapy side effects
myelosuppression, hair loss, diarrhea, neuropathy. all effects of rapidly cycling normal cells (bone marrow progenitors, intestinal crypt epithelium, hair follicles) and long axons dependent on microtubules
issues with chemotherapy dosing
need to maximize dose and give it continuously to kill cancer cells, but also need to minimize dose and allow breaks in treatment so as not to kill all normal cells
which normal cells in body are the most sensitive to chemotherapy?
bone marrow progenitors. if destroyed, must be replaced via bone marrow (stem cell) transplant
two principal cell kill models
log kill & norton simon hypothesis
log kill model
cell kill is proportional to tumor mass. follows first order kinetics: each drug dose kills constant percentage of cells. Some will grow back between treatments but progressively go down. need numerous therapies
norton simon hypothesis
proportion of cells killed is a function of tumor growth rate. easier to kill cells in rapidly growing tumors with just a few cycles of therapy
what does the likelihood of eradication depend upon?
the initial tumor volume. but then the issue is that clinical detection occurs at a very high number already (10^8)
log kill model limitations
enormous tumors require sequential treatments, resistance will emerge (tumor heterogeneity), and bc side effects are cumulative, can’t keep treating forever
gompertzian growth
cancer cells don’t actually grow in exponential fashion but instead asymptotic bc they eventually run out of food. so repeated cycles of therapy can successfully eradicate them
dose dense therapy
as tumor gets smaller, it grows faster. so with successive hits of therapy, you can kill higher fraction each time. shorter time between doses is helpful
intrinsic drug resistance
chemotherapy can’t reach the brain and the testes. these tissues are protected by transport constraint. also can be due to high intra-tumoral pressure.
acquired resistance
multi drug resistance, enhanced dna repair, mutation of drug targets, natural selection within heterogenous clonal population
mediator of multi drug resistance (MDR)
p-glycoprotein
p-glycoprotein
ATP dependent pumps that remove drugs from the cell. normally expressed in most cells at low levels, unregulated in cancers exposed to drugs. pump inhibition has been unsuccessful
4 enzymes that repair damaged DNA
O6-akylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase1 (PARP-1), DNA glycolsylase/XCCR1, ERCC1 (cisplatin)
why are pancreatic tumors so difficult to treat?
create an ultra dense tumor stroma that causes high intra-tumoral pressure and decreases drug penetration
goldie-coldman hypothesis of drug resistance
drug resistant cells are present in patient at diagnosis. exists prior to exposure via spontaneous mutations in heterogeneous clonal population.
how can we overcome drug resistance most effectively?
multiple agents should be given simultaneously over the shortest period of time as early in the growth of the cancer as possible and
principles of combination chemotherapy
all drugs must be active, non-overlapping toxicity, different or synergistic mechanisms of action, different mechanisms of resistance, all given at optimum dose and schedule
4 broad classes of chemotherapy agents
direct dna damaging agents, inhibitors of chromatin remodeling, inhibitors of dan synthesis, tubulin interactive drugs
types of direct dna damaging agents
cross linkers, alkylators, intercalators
cisplatin
directly damages DNA by cross liking it
mechanism of action of cisplatin
unstable in low intracellular concentrations of Cl–> loses Cl and electrophile binds to DNA, which makes replication difficult. Leads to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. fast growing cells can’t repair the adducts
mechanisms of resistance to cisplatin
decreased cellular drug uptake, glutathione buffer over expression, enhanced repair of DNA adducts, tolerance of DNA adducts