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Cancer Pharmacology > Chemotherapy/ Personalised Medicine > Flashcards

Chemotherapy/ Personalised Medicine Flashcards

1
Q

What therapy is typically used for breast cancer?

A

Hormone therapy

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2
Q

What is thyroid cancer sensitive to?

A

Radioactive Iodine

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3
Q

What is photodynamic therapy?

A

Using light to active anti-cancer drugs when they are applied topically in regards to skin cancer

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4
Q

Why is chemotherapy given?

A 
To cure cancer 
To increase the success of other treatments e.g. surgery for ovarian patients 
Reduce risk of recurrence 
Treat metastatic disease 
Palliative setting to relieve symptoms
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5
Q

Give an example of when chemotherapy is used for maintenance?

A

In breast cancer
Use of Tamoxifen
Can be taken for 5 years after surgery
Relatively non-toxic

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6
Q

Name some curable cancers

A 
Teratoma 
Seminoma 
Highgrade non-hodgkin's lymphoma 
Wilm's tumour 
Myeloma
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7
Q

Name some cancers with a clear survival benefit

A 
colorectal cancer 
Small cell lung cancer 
Oesphageal cancer 
Ovarian cancer 
Breast cancer 
Cervical cancer 
Low-grad lymphoma 
Non-small cell lung cancer
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8
Q

Name some cancer with a modest survival benefit

A 
Pancreatic cancer 
Gastric cancer 
Hepatoma 
Sarcoma 
Bladder cancer 
Primary brain cancer 
Nasopharyngeal cancer
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9
Q

Name some cancers with no survival gain from chemotherapy

A

Melanoma
Renal Cancer
Cholangiocarcinoma

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10
Q

What does melanoma respond to?

A

Immunotherapies

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11
Q

What was the first chemotherapy drugs derived from?

A

Mustard gas

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12
Q

How do antimetabolites work?

A

They look similar to DNA bases, the body recognises them as a subtle change to DNA modification of the DNA bases so can be taken up and since something is missing, it blocks transcription

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13
Q

How many patients typically receive an inadequate chemotherapy dose?

A

~30%

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14
Q

How many patients receive a chemotherapy dose which is too high?

A

~10%

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15
Q

What calculation is used to determine the dose of drug given to a patient?

A

Body surface area calculation

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16
Q

Common side effects of chemotherapy

A

myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells)
Immunosuppression
Anaemia
Mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the GI tract)
Alopecia (hair loss)
Fatigue

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17
Q

Why does chemotherapy cause these side effects?

A

It targets highly proliferating cells

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18
Q

What are the routes for administration of chemotherapy?

A

IV
Oral
Topical

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19
Q

How is tamoxifen administered?

20
Q

What kind of cancers can use topical administration?

A

Non-melanoma skin cancer

21
Q

How long for IV administered chemotherapy take to work?

A

A few hours

22
Q

After chemotherapy, when is the white cell count lowest?

A

7-14 days post chemo

23
Q

When is the recovery time for chemo?

A

18-28 days post chemo

24
Q

When are chemo regimens scheduled?

A

every 21-28 days

25
Q

How long will chemotherapy treatment last?

A

4-12 months

26
Q

At what point in the cell cycle to cells respond best to treatment?

A

S and M phases

27
Q

Why is the location of the tumour important for the success of chemotherapy?

A

The chemotherapy needs a blood supply to work and therefore the further away the tumour is, the less effective it’ll be

28
Q

Give examples of chemotherapy supportive drugs

A

Anti-emetics
Steroids
Mineral supplementation
Diuretics

29
Q

What is the average number of drugs a cancer patient is receiving?

30
Q

What chemotherapy works best for ovarian cancer?

A

Platinum drugs

31
Q

What does the choice of chemotherapy depend on?

A 
Disease site 
Stage/ grade of cancer 
Metastatic disease?
Individual patient issues e.g. their general health 
Curative or palliative intent
Differences in metabolism/ drug targets
32
Q

What metabolising tamoxifen?

33
Q

What monoclonal antibody targets EGFR?

34
Q

What targets Raf?

A

Vemurafenib

35
Q

When should patients not receive cetuximab?

A

If they have a Kras mutation

36
Q

An example drug which targets BCR:Abl

37
Q

An example drug which targets ErbB2

38
Q

An example drug which targets VEGFR

39
Q

Name an example PARP inhibitor

40
Q

When is Olaparib used?

A

In ovarian and breast cancer patients with BRCA1/2 mutations

41
Q

What types of cancer is Rituximab used in?

A

Non-hodgkins lymphoma

B cell lymphoma

42
Q

What types of cancer is herceptin used in?

A

ErbB2 positive breast cancer

43
Q

When cancers is cetuximab used in?

A

CRC, head and neck

44
Q

What does bevacizumab target?

45
Q

What cancers is bevacizumab used in?

A

CRC and ovarian cancer

46
Q

How responsive is immunotherapy?

A

~50% response rate

47
Q

How much does immunotherapy cost?

A

Up to £10,000/ month

Cancer Pharmacology (13 decks)

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