Term
| What is targeted therapy? |
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Definition
| -therapy which targets the changes in cancer cells that help them grow, divide, and spread. |
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Term
| What is mechanism of action of Gleevec? |
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Definition
| -Gleevec is tyrosine kinase inhibitor, that inhibits Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase, abnormal kinase created by Philadelphia chromosome abnormality in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) |
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Term
| What is ER+ breast cancer? |
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Definition
-Estrogen Positive breast cancer.
Estrogen binds to estrogen receptor, promotes cell proliferation. About 80% of all breast cancers are ER positive |
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Term
| Why is estrogen a mitogen rather than mutagen? |
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Definition
| Estrogen causes cancer cells to undergo mitosis (mitogen) rather than causes mutations in a cell (mutagen). |
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Term
| What are the main causes of HCC? |
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Definition
- Cirrhosis (long-term damage) caused by alcohol abuse or hepatitis B or C,
-Obesity, diabetes. |
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Term
| Name one mutation associated with HCC |
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Definition
| - P53 mutation found in over 30% of HCC cases |
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Term
| What is the role of PARP? |
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Definition
| - Enzyme which repair single strand DNA breaks in cells |
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Term
| Why are PARP inhibitors effective in cancer treatment? |
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Definition
-bind and block the action of the parp enzyme
- further disrupt repair, effectively kill the cancerous cells |
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Term
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Definition
-Ages 1-21
- Looks at solid tumors that have not responded to treatment or have come back post treatment
-Looks at if they can actually use targeted drugs to work against these tumors |
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Term
What kind of drugs are used for this
particular trial? |
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Definition
Name two and their target.
-Afatinib- EGFR(epidermal growth factor) tyrosine kinase inhibitor
-Crizotinib-ALK kinase inhibitor |
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Term
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Definition
-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
-cancer of the white blood cells, affects children specifically
symptoms include bruising, fever, bone pain, infection |
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Term
| How was Emily Whitehead treated and what was the outcome? |
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Definition
-underwent 2 rounds of chemo when diagnosed
-infection in her legs, refused a bone marrow transplant
-treated with CART therapy
- enrolled her in hospice which allowed her to take part in U PENN treatment→ car-T therapy
- now she is cancer free (5 years at least) |
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Term
| What is the role of NK cells? |
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Definition
- NK (natural killer cells) are type of lymphocytes (white blood cell) and component of innate immune system. They could recognize and kill infected or damaged cells without the requirement of prior antigen exposure.
-play major role in the host-rejection of tumors and virally infected cells |
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Term
| What is the role of NK cell in cancer treatment? |
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Definition
they can be “educated” by interacting with MHC (Major histocompatibility antigen) class I molecules to gain function to kill targets and produce cytokines.
-by using suicide gene and gene that prolong lifespan
-can be adoptively transferred to treat cancer |
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Term
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Definition
| - Cancer cells will undergo glycolysis even in aerobic condition. |
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Term
| How the cells acquire the glucose they need? How the cancerous cells do it? |
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Definition
| -Normal cells acquire glucose through glucose transporters. Cancerous cells need more glucose than normal cells so they will express high level of glucose transporters on their cell surface. |
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Term
| What type of mutation is ALK gene mutation? |
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Definition
| ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) mutation is chromosomal rearrangement and fusion mutation of ALK and EML4 genes which results in constitutive kinase activity that contributes to carcinogenesis. |
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Term
| What is the mechanism of action of crizotinib? |
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Definition
| -Crizotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that could block the ALK. It inhibits the cell division pathway. |
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Term
| What is PDL1 protein and what its role in cancer |
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Definition
-programmed death ligand
- It is a protein on the tumor cell that could bind PD1 receptor on T cell. The interaction between PDL1 and PD1 could prevent the T cells from killing the tumor cells so they could continue to proliferate. |
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Term
| What is the mechanism of action of Keytruda? |
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Definition
| -The drug could bind the PD1 receptors on the T cells and interfere with the PDL1 and PD 1 interaction. Thus, T cells could recognize the tumor cells and could kill them. |
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Term
| What is the DecisionDx-Melanoma test? |
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Definition
-test which has proven effective when determining individual metastatic risk of melanoma
- offers a more personal study of a person’s tumorigenic activity |
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Term
| What stages of melanoma are studied with this test? |
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Definition
| -stage 1 and stage 2, the early stages |
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Term
|
Definition
| - cell-derived vesicles that are released outside the cell. |
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Term
| What’s their role in metastasis? |
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Definition
| - exosomes are used to communicate with RNA, they can serve as functional mediators in cell interaction leading to cancer metastasis. other cells because they contain messenger |
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Term
| What modified virus could treat glioblastoma? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| How that virus recognize the cancer cells? |
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Definition
| - The virus could recognize cancer cells by the CD155 expressed on cancer cells surface. |
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Term
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Definition
| - cervical cancer screening for women, detect precancerous and cancerous cells on the cervix. |
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Term
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Definition
| -detects the presence of a virus that could lead to cervical cancer |
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Term
| What is optoacoustic method? |
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Definition
| - It is a method that uses both light and sound to detect the tumor formation. |
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Term
| What is this method detecting? |
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Definition
| The tumor tissue will be heated up and absorb laser energy which causes expansion of tissue, resulting in generation of wide-band ultrasound wave. The sound waves could be detected and analyzed to determine if there is cancerous growth by comparing to baseline signals. |
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Term
|
Definition
-hepatocellular carcinoma
-a common type of liver cancer
-usually caused by extensive liver damage-
-linked to alcohol abuse |
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Term
| What is the role of caspase 8 in HCC? |
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Definition
-dual role
-on one hand caspase-8 can induce hepatocyte apoptosis, which correlate with increased hepatocyte proliferation and liver regeneration. Chronic liver diseases which commonly lead to HCC display high levels of DNA damage and genetic instability
- on the other caspase-8 hand has a non-apoptotic function in DNA damage- helps detect and repair DNA damage |
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Term
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Definition
| The comprehensive quantification of tumor phenotypes by applying a large quantities of medical images like CT scan to uncover the tumor features. |
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Term
| How could be used to predict certain cancer features? |
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Definition
| Captures the entire tumor, so it can assess the tumor and varying cell phenotypes |
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Term
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Definition
-Breathalyzer
-Could analyze the chemicals in the breath to determine the presence of cancer |
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Term
| What are volatile organic compound (VOC)? |
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Definition
Organic compounds that easily become vapors or gasses
Biomarkers of cancer
Can be emitted by cancerous tissue
For example T cells counts in cancer, this could predict the success rate when treated with immunotherapy. |
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Term
| How the MasSpec pen works? |
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Definition
-Pen uses water droplet to extract molecules from human tissues.
-The pen could be connected to mass spectrophotometer |
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Term
| What kind of method is use for detection? |
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Definition
Spectrophotometry
-Analyze specific molecules present in cancerous tissue vs healthy tissue. |
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Term
| Why is the probability to acquire certain cancers higher in Ashkenazy Jews? |
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Definition
they developed mutation thousand years ago, lived in close communities so genetic characteristic have been preserved down the generations.
What are some types of alternative therapy?
Herbs, botanicals, diets |
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Term
| What kind of mutation is involved? |
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Definition
| Germline mutation passed down in dominant fashion |
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Term
| What is the recommendation regarding diet while treated with chemo or radiation? |
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Definition
| Eat fruits, veggies, choose vegetarian options, protein, whole wheat and grain options for cereal and bread |
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Term
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Definition
Virus that could infect the cancerous cells and lyse them.
As a cancer cell undergoes lysis, virus bursts throughout cell and spreads to other areas. |
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Term
| Are there any FDA approved viruses for treatment of cancer? If yes, what kind? |
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Definition
Yes.
In 2015, the FDA approved Imlygic, which is a virus therapy for the treatment of melanoma. It is modified Herper virus. |
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Term
| Is air pollution consider a carcinogen? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| How is asbestos causing cancer? |
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Definition
| -It causes cancer when it is inhaled and lodged in the lungs. Cancer is called mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissue. Asbestos kills cells within the body through necrosis (unorganized, quick, messy cell destruction). HMGB1 will be released and could lead to inflammation and cancer growth. |
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Term
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Definition
Extracting patient T cells,
Adding chimeric antigen receptor
Reintroducing modified Tcells back to patient
Enable T cells to recognize cancer specific protein |
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Term
| What is the target element? |
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Definition
-Part of the CAR T cell
-Single chain variable fragment derived from antibody
- is expressed on the surface of CAR T cell and confers antigen specificity |
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Term
| What are liquid biopsies? |
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Definition
A blood test from a cancer patient.
-Can obtain cell free DNA or circulating tumor cells.
- can be used for early detection of cancer. |
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Term
| What are some mutations currently being tested in ctDNA to detect the cancer? |
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Definition
| BRAF and TERT gene mutations. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Microscopic medical weapons that can could diagnose and and kill cancer cells. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Double stranded RNA that could attach to mRNA and turn off the gene expression. |
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Term
|
Definition
-Cytokine release syndrome
-Overactive immune cells.
-Results from the release of cytokines into circulation |
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Term
| What are possible interventions to treat side effects of the CART therapy? |
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Definition
| Oxygen therapy. Immunosuppressive drugs |
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Term
| Name two new biomarkers in pancreatic cancer? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| Why is it important to detect pancreatic cancer early? |
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Definition
To be effectively treated, the cancer must be detected early.
When symptoms occur, cancer had already spread and it is hard to treat. |
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Term
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Definition
| The mutations in genes that cancer needs in order to spread. These cancer-specific dependencies are compelling therapeutic targets. |
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Term
| How many genes so far were singled out as dependencies? |
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Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| Circulating tumor cells which enter the vascular system from primary and metastatic tumor deposits. |
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Term
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Definition
Cell free DNA
A biomarker that can help determine the presence of tumors. |
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Term
| What are two functions of aspirin? |
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Definition
| Might be able to treat cancer. Anti-inflammatory and anti- platelet effect |
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Term
| Describe the role of platelets in metastasis?’ |
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Definition
| They could increase cancer cells resistance to shear the stress and NK cells, promote EMT and help the cancer cells to form new colonies in distant organs. |
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Term
|
Definition
Unique organization of short, partially palindromic repeated DNA sequences found in the genomes of bacteria and other microorganisms.
Gene-editing tool
It could fix and repair mutation in DNA |
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Term
| What are spacer sequences? |
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Definition
A region of non-coding DNA between genes
Left over genetic pieces form past invaders |
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Term
| What are motorized nanomolecules? |
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Definition
| One nanometer wide, made up of a chain of atoms, could target specific (cancerous) cells. Could deliver the drugs or kill the cells by drilling into the cell membrane. |
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Term
| What kind of molecules do these motorized proteins recognize on the cell membrane? |
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Definition
| They could recognize specific chain of carbohydrates on the membrane surface. |
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