Chemotherapy workshop Flashcards
1
Q
MOA of majority of anticancer drugs
A
anti-proliferative (inhibit cell division)
2
Q
What do cytotoxic drugs target?
A
chemistry of nucleic acids
DNA or RNA production
mechanics of cell division
3
Q
Why is chemotherapy given in combination?
A
single agent chemo not always effective
combining agents aims to:
- increase ‘fractional cell kill’
- overcome asynchronistic tumour growth
- overcome drug resistance
4
Q
Principles of combination chemotherapy
A
each drug to be active alone on tumour type
each drug to have different MOA
drugs to have minimal overlap of toxicity
select drugs working at different parts of cell cycle
drugs should not share the same resistance mechanisms
