Monoclonal Antibodies and Cancer

Question 1

What do cancerous cells do?

Answer 1

They continously and uncrotollably divide with no stopping

Cancer cells are immortal

Question 2

What are the 3 traditional cancer treatments?

Answer 2

1. Chemotherapy
2. Radiation therapy
3. Surgery

Question 3

What is chemotherapy, how effective is it and what are side effects?

Answer 3

• Drugs that are cytotoxic to dividing cells
• Not very specific
• Kills cancerous and healthy cells
• can cause hair loss, nausea, lethargy, etc.

Question 4

What is radiation therapy, how effective is it and what are side effects?

Answer 4

• Radiation fired through beam at tumours
• Radiation does damage to healthy cells on the way to tumour
• May damage cells behind tumor or cells around tumour
• Not specific at all

Question 5

What is surgery for cancer, how effective is it and what are side effects?

Answer 5

• Surgically removing tumour and cancer cells
• Risks infection
• Cancer cells are small and numerous, hard to remove all cells

Question 6

Which treatments are given to a cancer patient?

Answer 6

A combination of treatments is given depending on type and location of cancer for best results

Question 7

What does a monoclonal antibody mean?

Answer 7

Antibodies produced by a single clone of B-lymphocytes grown in culture (lab)

Monoclonal antibodies are artificially produced

Question 8

State the two characteristics of Monoclonal Antibodies

Answer 8

1. Identical to each other
2. Target specific antigens on cancer cells

Question 9

Explain side effects in monoclonal antibodies

Answer 9

Fewer side-effects as they don’t target healthy cells

Question 10

What are Hybridomas?

Answer 10

Fused plasma and Myeloma cells

Question 11

WHat are myeloma cells?

Answer 11

Cancer cells

Most cancer cells end with suffix “-oma”

Question 12

How are monoclonal antibodies made?

Answer 12

1. Cancerous anitigen injected into animal (rat)
2. Animal isolated for 2 weeks(ish)
3. Plasma cells extracted from animal
4. Plasma cells fused with myeloma cells to forms Hybridomas
5. Selecetd hybridomas are cloned
6. Antibodies produced by hybridomas are injected into cancer patient

Question 13

What are Conjugated MABS?

Answer 13

Drugs, toxins or radioactive particles attached to the constant region of antibodies

Question 14

How do Conjugated MABS kill cancerous cells?

Answer 14

Antibody will attach to cancerous antigen and toxic/radioactive substance attached to antibody will destroy cell

Question 15

What are the side-effects of Conjugated MABS?

Answer 15

None - Toxic/Radioactive Antibody attacehd to cancerous cell is too far way to damage any other cells

Question 16

What do the 2 different variable regions on Bispecific MABS attach to?

Answer 16

• One variable region attaches to a cancerous cell
• Other variable region attaches to a Cytotoxic T-cell

Question 16

What are Bispecific MABS

Answer 16

Antibodies with 2 different variable regions

Question 17

How do Bispecific MABS kill cancerous cells

Answer 17

By bringing cytotoxic t-cell and cancerous cell near each other, Cytotoxic T-cell is forced to kill cancerous cell