Cancer Therapeutics

Question 1

Alkylating Agents are cell cycle phase ______ (specific or non specific).

Answer 1

nonspecific

Question 2

Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) - how to administer? side effect?

Answer 2

oral or injectable; may cause sterile hemorrhagic cystitis

Question 3

Chlorambucil (Leukeran) is an alternate to which drug?

Answer 3

Cyclophosphamide

Question 4

Melphalan (alkeran) is an oral drug sud to treat which condition?

Answer 4

Multiple myeloma

Question 5

Lomustine: how to administer; side effects; specifically good for tumors located in the ____

Answer 5

Oral drug ONLY; thrombocytopenia and hepatotoxicity; penetrates the CNS - good for brain tumors

Question 6

List 5 alkylating agents

Answer 6

Mechlorethamine, Cyclophosphamide, Chlorambucil, Malphalan, and Lomustin

Question 7

Antimetabolites are cell cycle-phase ______(specific or non-specific)

Answer 7

specific - S phase

Question 8

Antimetabolite - 5-FU - toxicity?

Answer 8

fatal neurotoxicity in cats

Question 9

Antimetabolite - Gemcitabine (Gemzar) - side effects

Answer 9

thrombocytopenia and retinal hemorrhage has been reported

Question 10

Antitumor antibiotics are cell cycle-phase _____ (specific or non-specific)

Answer 10

non-specific

Question 11

Antitumor antibiotic -Doxorubicin = “Adriamycin” - side effect, toxicity

Answer 11

BAD Vesicant! will cause oxidative free radical damage; cumulative dose-related cardiotoxicity in dogs; nephrotoxic to cats; slower infusions = less toxicity

Question 12

Vinca Alkaloids are cell cycle phase _____ (specific or nonspecific).

Answer 12

Specific - M-phase

Question 13

Vinca alkaloid - Vincristine (Oncovin) - side effects, toxicity

Answer 13

Side effects: vesicant (not as bad as doxorubicin), increases platelet count (not a bad thing); peripheral neuropathy/neurotoxcity

Question 14

Compounds related to vincas - Etoposide (VePesid) - what is the drug vehicle that causes anaphylaxis?

Answer 14

polysorbate 80

Question 15

Compounds related to vincas - Paclitaxel (taxol) - what is the drug vehicle that causes hypersensitivity reaction?

Answer 15

Cremophor EL

Question 16

Paccal Vet - CAI (paclitaxel for injection) - is a (approved or conditionally approved) nanoparticle formulation without cremophor EL.

Answer 16

Conditionally approved

Question 17

L-asparaginase (Elspar) - cell cycle (specific or nonspecific); what is it derived from?; side effects

Answer 17

specific - G1 phase; derived from E. coli; hypersensitivity to E. coli source may occur (pretreat) with Benadryl; pancreatitis (uncommon)

Question 18

Cisplatin (Platinol) - cell cycle _______ (specific or non specific); toxicity in dogs vs cats

Answer 18

cell cycle nonspecific; fatal pulmonary edema in cats; nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity in dogs; saline diuresis is required to prevent acute proximal tubular necrosis

Question 19

What is an alternative to cisplatin that is safe for cats?

Answer 19

carboplatin (paraplatin)

Question 20

Is Kinavet (masitinib) fully approved or conditionally approved?

Answer 20

conditionally approved

Question 21

Is Palladia (toceranib) fully approved or conditionally approved?

Answer 21

Fully approved

Question 22

Full licensure was granted to the merial canine DNA melanoma vaccine True or False.

Answer 22

True

Question 23

Cell cycle phase - G1

Answer 23

RNA and protein synthesis; lasts hours to days; L-asparaginase is G1 specific

Question 24

Cell cycle phase- S

Answer 24

DNA synthesis; lasts 6-8 hours; antimetabolites (5-FU, cytosine, arabinoside) are S-phase specific; as are methotrexate and hydrourea

Question 25

What cell cycle phase is considered to be a radioresistant phase?

Answer 25

S phase

Question 26

Cell cycle phase- G2 phase

Answer 26

RNA and protein synthesis; lasts ~2 hours; radiation and bleomycin are effective

Question 27

Cell cycle phase - M phase

Answer 27

Mitosis; lasts 30-90 minutes; drugs that affect microtubule formation and disassembly produce tumor inhibition that is noted in this phase; effects of vincristine, vinblastine, and paclitaxel and bleomycin are seen here

Question 28

Cell cycle phase - G0

Answer 28

Resting phase, duration is variable; cells are resistant to chemotherapy in this phase

Question 29

Gompertzian Growth

Answer 29

The growth of tumor cells is initially characterized by a high growth fraction (proportion of cells that are actively proliferating) and a short tumor doubling time. However, by the time a tumor is clinically detectable, it contains at least 109 (one billion) cells and has undergone 30 doublings.

Question 30

Many cells are in the ____ phase of the cell-cycle by the time the tumor is detected, and are therefore _____ sensitive to chemotherapy and radiation.

Answer 30

G0; less sensitive

Question 31

Stem Cell Theory

Answer 31

This theory proposes that among all cancer cells, there are select cells that act as stem cells to reproduce themselves, and propagate the cancer. Thus, therapies that do not eliminate these cells will fail. On the other hand, if these cells can be targeted, therapy has a greater likelihood of success.

Question 32

Goldie-Coldman Hypothesis

Answer 32

Tumor cells have a spontaneous mutation rate of approximately 10-4 to 10-7. This means that at the time of diagnosis, up to 1 in 10,000 tumor cells may have acquired mutations which can confer resistance, even in the absence of any previous exposure to chemotherapy.

Question 33

Multidrug Resistance

Answer 33

, it is well recognized that tumor cells can develop resistance to chemotherapeutic agents by many different mechanisms. One of the best characterized is that of multidrug resistance (MDR) conferred by the induction of the p-glycoprotein (p-gp) efflux pump, which removes chemotherapy agents from the very tumor cells they were meant to affect. Antimetabolites and alkylating agents are usually not affected by MDR

Question 34

Skipper’s Log Kill Hypothesis

Answer 34

According to this hypothesis, a certain percentage of tumor cells (not a set number) are killed with each treatment.