Question

8) Based on your knowledge of the De Novo nucleotide metabolism pathway and our discussions of it, define 2 molecular targets that could be used to treat cancer. In your answer, not only define the molecule but give the rational for it being a target. Also, pick one of your targets and completely define the mechanism by which it functions and the effect that a chemotherapy agent would have on them (10)

Yes its biology related. Its cell/Molecular biology.

Answer 1

Molecular Targets for Cancer thrapy  

1)molecular targeted therapeutic is Gleevec, which is a kinase inhibitor with exceptional affinity for the oncofusion protein BCR-Abl which is a strong driver of tumorigenesis in chronic myelogenous leukemia. Although employed in other indications, Gleevec is most effective targeting BCR-Abl.

2)molecular targeted therapeutics targeting mutated oncogenes, include PLX27892 which targets mutant B-raf in melanoma.

Molecular therapy -

In cancer, a type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to target specific molecules involved in the growth and spread of cancer cells. Blocking these molecules may kill cancer cells or may keep cancer cells from growing or spreading. Molecularly targeted therapy may cause less harm to normal cells and may have fewer side effects than other types of cancer treatment.

RATIONAL FOR TARGET-

Targeted therapy or molecularly targeted therapy is one of the major modalities of medical treatment for cancer, others being hormonal therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy. As a form of molecular medicine, targeted therapy blocks the growth of cancer cells by interfering with specific targeted molecules needed for carcinogenesis and tumor growth,rather than by simply interfering with all rapidly dividing cells (e.g. with traditional chemotherapy). Because most agents for targeted therapy are biopharmaceuticals, the term biologic therapy is sometimes synonymous with targeted therapy when used in the context of cancer therapy (and thus distinguished from chemotherapy, that is, cytotoxic therapy). However, the modalities can be combined; antibody-drug conjugates combine biologic and cytotoxic mechanisms into one targeted therapy.

Another form of targeted therapy involves use of nanoengineered enzymes to bind to a tumor cell such that the body's natural cell degradation process can digest the cell, effectively eliminating it from the body.

Targeted cancer therapies are expected to be more effective than older forms of treatments and less harmful to normal cells. Many targeted therapies are examples of immunotherapy (using immune mechanisms for therapeutic goals) developed by the field of cancer immunology. Thus, as immunomodulators, they are one type of biological response modifiers.

ONE OF MY TARGETS

BREAST CANCER-

Chemotherapy for breast cancer

Chemotherapy uses anticancer (or cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. Many women with breast cancer have chemotherapy. Your healthcare team will consider the type of breast cancer you have and your personal needs to plan the drugs, doses and schedules of chemotherapy. You may also receive other treatments to help lessen the side effects of chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is given for different reasons. You may have chemotherapy to:

• shrink a large tumour before surgery (called neoadjuvant chemotherapy) when the cancer hasn’t spread outside the breast or lymph nodes
• destroy cancer cells left behind after surgery and reduce the risk that the cancer will come back (recur) (called adjuvant chemotherapy)
• treat cancer that comes back
• relieve pain or control the symptoms of advanced breast cancer (called palliative chemotherapy)

Chemotherapy is usually a systemic therapy. This means that the drugs travel through the bloodstream to reach and destroy cancer cells all over the body, including those that may have broken away from the primary tumour in the breast.

Chemotherapy is generally given every 3 weeks. Sometimes it is given every 2 weeks (called a dose-dense regimen). Studies have shown that a dose-dense regimen may further lower the risk that breast cancer will come back and it may improve survival.