Targeted cancer therapies

Question 1

Cancer definition

Answer 1

Cancer is a disease of populations of cells that live, divide, invade, spread without regards to normal limits and regulations. Normally cell growth, death and location are tightly regulated and cancer develops when these regulations breakdown

Question 2

What is the molecular basis of cancer

Answer 2

Cancer is a disease caused by abnormalities in DNA i.e. abnormalities at the molecular level. This can be caused by exogenous carcinogens, DNA replication errors or inherited abnormalities.

Question 3

Cancer genes

Answer 3

Oncogenes

TSGs

Question 4

Cellular basis of cancer

Answer 4

Cancer is a disease of populations of cells that live, grow, divide, invade and spread without respect to normal limits

Question 5

What 6 key phenotypica characterestics do cancer cells typically acquire

Answer 5

• evade apoptosis
• self-sufficiency in growth signals
• become insensitiev to anti-growth signals
• become able to invade tissues and metastasise
• obtain limitless replicating potential
• sustained angiogeneis

Question 6

Anti metabolite

Answer 6

Methotrexate

Inhibits dna synth i.e. during S phase of cell cycle

Question 7

Anti microtubule

Answer 7

Paclitaxel

Inhibits mitotic spindle during M phase

Question 8

Personalised cancer medicine?

Answer 8

• genetic testing that then allows targeted drug therapy i.e. oncogenes that drive tumour growth

Question 9

Oncogenes?

Answer 9

Modified genes i.e. EFGR, RAS that encode abnormal proteins than increase the probability of tumour formation
Formed from proto-oncogenes due to translocation, mutation, amplification (usually receptors)
Are often genes involved in mitogenic signal transduction pathways i.e. ERK/MARK