introduction

Question 1

What is molecular biology?

Answer 1

the study of the molecules of the cell (e.g DNA and protein)

Question 2

What is cell biology?

Answer 2

the study of how cells and their molecules function (molecular mechanism)

Question 3

What are biomarkers?

Answer 3

naturally occurring molecules, genes by which a particular pathology or physiological process or disease can be identified

Question 4

What are the 4 ways biomarkers are used in the clinic ?

Answer 4

• diagnosing disease
• monitor disease progression
• predict responses to treatment
• prognostic use (e.g low risk, high risk for some cancers)

Question 5

What is pharmacogenomics?

Answer 5

the study of how genes affect the response to a particular drug

Question 6

What is the aim of pharmacogenomics?

Answer 6

the aim is to identify patients are risk for reduced response to a therapy prior to treatment, to develop safe and effective medications that are tailored to the variations in a persons genes

Question 7

What does screening patients for mutations avoid?

Answer 7

• administering drugs that are ineffective
• causing unnecessary side effects
• wastage of NHS resources

Question 8

Explain the relevance of K-RAS mutations in colorectal cancer?

Answer 8

• drug that is it is only effective in colon cancer patients with a normal K-RAS protein
• if K-RAS protein is mutated, the drug is ineffective

Question 9

How can personalised therapy help children with cancer?

Answer 9

• CAR T THERAPY
• can be used to treat B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children
• the T cells are reprogrammed to facilitate targeted killing of CD19+ B cells

Question 10

What is precision medicine?

Answer 10

it is where approaches that will be effective for patients are identified, based on genetic, ENVIRONMENTAL and LIFESTYLE factors

Question 11

Give two examples of the use of translational research

Answer 11

• understanding the functions of RNA molecules was essential to producing mRNA vaccines
• the galleri blood screening trial: early trial data suggests that the test can detect over 50 types of cancer

Question 12

What is stratified medicine?

Answer 12

a method of treating patients by dividing them into groups based on their biological characteristics and how they respond to treatment

Question 13

Give an example of the use of stratified medicine?

Answer 13

• in breast cancer patients, biomarkers are used to detect which category each patient falls into
• based on these identified categories, patients are treated differently
• e.g, if ER+ (estrogen receptor), they are treated with tamoxifen. if HER2+ (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), they are treated with herceptin