Deck 16: The Rational Treatment of Cancer

Question 1

The continued requirement of tumor cells for the initiating genetic driver for growth and viability is known as

A)Initiator requirement.
B)Initiator addiction.
C)Oncogene addiction.
D)Oncogene promotion.
E)None of the above.

Answer 1

Oncogene addiction.

Question 2

The resistance of cancer cells to EGF-R inhibition sometimes occurs as a result of

A)Amplification of Met.
B)Down-regulation of IGF-1R.
C)Inhibition of Ras signaling.
D)Amplification of Gli2.
E)All of the above.

Answer 2

Amplification of Met.

Question 3

The therapeutic index of an anti-cancer drug is reflective of

A)The dosage at which side effects are minimal.
B)Its selectivity for killing cancer cells over normal cells.
C)The method by which the drug is delivered.
D)A and B.
E)None of the above.

Answer 3

A and B.

Question 4

Inhibitors of the specific V600E mutant B-Raf protein have been used to treat

A)Melanoma.
B)Multiple myeloma.
C)Pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
D)CML.
E)None of the above.

Question 5

Cancer cells may be more susceptible than normal cells to mitotic catastrophe in response to chemotherapeutic drugs because

A)They express unique receptors for those drugs on their surface.
B)They may lack key G₂/M checkpoint controls.
C)They may be resistant to apoptosis.
D)B and C.
E)A,B,and C.

Question 6

In pancreatic adenocarcinoma,the tumor cells are surrounded by dense stromal tissue,making drug delivery to the cancer cells difficult.Recent studies in mice have shown improved delivery of the drugs gemcitabine and doxorubicin to pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells when concomitantly administered with antagonists of

A)K-Ras.
B)p53.
C)The Hedgehog signaling pathway.
D)PI3K.
E)None of the above.

Question 7

Which of the following classes of anti-cancer agents has been most successful to date?

A)Low-molecular-weight compounds
B)Antibodies against cancer cells
C)Drugs targeted against receptor-associated tyrosine kinases
D)Antibiotics
E)None of the above

Question 8

Gene expression array technology has been used to

A)Stratify patients with breast cancer into groups predictive of response to therapy.
B)Determine the most relevant treatment for individual patients based on their genomic "signature."
C)Predict the likelihood of disease recurrence in individuals based on gene expression signatures.
D)A,B,and C.
E)None of the above.

Question 9

Therapeutic antibodies used in the treatment of cancer are targeted at proteins located

A)On the cell surface of cancer cells.
B)On the cell surface of normal cells.
C)In the nucleus of cancer cells.
D)In the cytoplasm of cancer cells.
E)C and D.

Question 10

Velcade has been used to treat patients with myeloma in part because of its inhibition of

A)Ras signaling.
B)Hedgehog signaling.
C)NF-κB signaling.
D)TGF-β signaling.
E)None of the above.

Question 11

Gleevec has been used to successfully treat patients with CML by targeting

A)Anti-apoptotic proteins.
B)The kinase activity of the Bcr-Abl fusion protein.
C)Oncogenic H-Ras signaling.
D)The antigenic proteins on the surface of leukemia cells.
E)None of the above.

Question 12

Acute promyelocytic anemia APL)has been treated with all-trans-retinoic acid ATRA),which results in

A)Killing of malignant cells by NK cells.
B)Initiation of the humoral immune response.
C)Attraction of cytokines to the tumor site.
D)The differentiation of leukemic cells into neutrophils.
E)None of the above.