Cancer pharmacology

Question 1

cancer cells

Answer 1

Reproduce uncontrollably and turn off pre- programed apoptosis

Become poorly differentiated

Can migrate to other parts of the body

Don’t self -destruct if they become damaged

Question 2

Treatments of cancer

Answer 2

• Immunotherapy
• Radiation therapy
• targeted therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Bone marrow transplantation
• surgery
• Hormone therapy

Question 3

SACT

Answer 3

Systemic anti-cancer therapy

Question 4

What is SACT

Answer 4

drugs with direct anti-tumour activity,including traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy

Question 5

What are local treatments of cancer

Answer 5

Surgery and radiation as they only target one area.

Question 6

Systemic therapy

Answer 6

Hormone, chemo and targeted therapy which targets whole body

Question 7

Treatment intentions of SACT

Answer 7

Curative: Remission
Disease control: Aim to control growth and spread of the disease. improves quality and quantity of life
Palliative: Focused solely on improving quality of life.

Question 8

Venous access

Answer 8

PICC line

Question 9

chemotherapy

Answer 9

The therapeutic use of chemical agents to treat disease through the administration of one or more cytotoxic drugs.
To destroy or inhibit the growth and division of malignant cells in the treatment of cancer

Question 10

How does chemotherapy work

Answer 10

• Stops or slows the growth of cancer cells
• Targets fast dividing cells in the body
• Works on the cell cycle
• cell cycle specific or non cell cycle specific
• Variety routes (IV,oral, IM, S/C, IT)

Question 11

Why use chemotherapy

Answer 11

Malignant cells are more susceptible to the effects of chemotherapy than normal cells

Cancer cells often repair less well than normal cells when injured

Question 12

Scheduling

Answer 12

Treatment is usually given over a period of months

This allows for:
Normal cells to recover
Non-dividing cancer cells to enter the cell cycle and become actively dividing cells, making them sensitive to the cytotoxic drugs

Question 13

Cytotoxic agents can be classified in different ways:

Answer 13

The point of greatest effect in cell cycle:
cell cycle specific
cell cycle phase specific
cell cycle non-specific

By their toxicity to vessels:
Non-irritant/neutral
Irritant
Vesicant

By their mode of action:
Genotoxic agents
Antimetabolites
Mitotic inhibitors

Question 14

Targeted therapy (biotherapy)

Answer 14

Encourage immune system to attack cancer cells

Stop cancer cells from growing blood vessels

Helps carry other treatments such as chemo to cancer cells

Question 15

Types of immunotherapy

Answer 15

Immune checkpoint inhibitors : Block checkpoint proteins from binding with partner proteins

•T-cell transfer therapy : Boosts the natural ability of the T cells to fight cancer e.g. TIL or CART therapy

•Monoclonal antibody treatment: Immune proteins are manufactured in the laboratory to bind to specific targets on the cancer cells allowing them to be targeted by the immune system

Question 16

Signal transduction inhibitors

Answer 16

Target enzymes, growth factor receptors and pathways involved in cell growth signalling

Question 17

Examples of signal transductase inhibitors

Answer 17

Examples:
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors:
•Imatimib (Gleevec, Glivec)
•Dasatinib (Sprycel)

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor inhibitor (EGFR)
•Erlotinib – lung (Tarceva)

Question 18

Anti-angiogenesis agents

Answer 18

As cancer tumours are dependent on a good blood supply, they can generate the production of new blood vessels (angiogenesis)

A number of agents have anti-angiogenic properties:
Thalidomide/lenalidomide
Bevacizumab (Avastin)
Cetuximab (Erbitux)

Question 19

Checkpoint inhibitors

Answer 19

Presence of anti pd-LD1
And Anti PD1 means checkpoint receptors are not attached so results in cell death

Question 20

Cell-based immunotherapy

Answer 20

White blood cells are collected from patient
•These are modified in the lab (to ‘remind’ or ‘train’ WBC to destroy cancer cells in the body)
•Infused back into the patient

Question 21

Vaccine-based immunotherapy

Answer 21

Involves injecting a patient with a cancer peptide, modified virus, or even dead cancer cells

to create a long-lasting anti-cancer immune response

Question 22

Hormone therapy

Answer 22

Some cancers use hormones to grow and develop

•Hormone therapy uses specific hormones to stop or slow cancer

•Treatment either blocks the body’s ability to produce hormones or interferes with how hormones work in the body

E.g. breast cancer , prostate cancer, ovarian cancer