Cancer pharmacology Flashcards
cancer cells
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
Treatments of cancer
- Immunotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- targeted therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Bone marrow transplantation
- surgery
- Hormone therapy
SACT
Systemic anti-cancer therapy
What is SACT
drugs with direct anti-tumour activity,including traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy
What are local treatments of cancer
Surgery and radiation as they only target one area.
Systemic therapy
Hormone, chemo and targeted therapy which targets whole body
Treatment intentions of SACT
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.
Venous access
PICC line
chemotherapy
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
How does chemotherapy work
- 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)
Why use chemotherapy
Malignant cells are more susceptible to the effects of chemotherapy than normal cells
Cancer cells often repair less well than normal cells when injured
Scheduling
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
Cytotoxic agents can be classified in different ways:
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
Targeted therapy (biotherapy)
Encourage immune system to attack cancer cells
Stop cancer cells from growing blood vessels
Helps carry other treatments such as chemo to cancer cells
Types of immunotherapy
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
Signal transduction inhibitors
Target enzymes, growth factor receptors and pathways involved in cell growth signalling
Examples of signal transductase inhibitors
Examples:
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors:
•Imatimib (Gleevec, Glivec)
•Dasatinib (Sprycel)
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor inhibitor (EGFR)
•Erlotinib – lung (Tarceva)
Anti-angiogenesis agents
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)
Checkpoint inhibitors
Presence of anti pd-LD1
And Anti PD1 means checkpoint receptors are not attached so results in cell death
Cell-based immunotherapy
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
Vaccine-based immunotherapy
Involves injecting a patient with a cancer peptide, modified virus, or even dead cancer cells
to create a long-lasting anti-cancer immune response
Hormone therapy
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
