A patient has a tumor that contains 10¹⁰ cancer cells. Treatment includes two consecutive courses of an antineoplastic regimen, and each course kills 99% of the existing cells. Assuming that the tumor did not have time to grow between the two courses, how many tumor cells are left?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Each course of treatment kills 99% of the existing cells, leaving 1% of the cells remaining. After the first course, the tumor would contain 10⁸ cancer cells (10¹⁰ x 0.01). After the second course, the remaining 1% of cells would be killed, leaving only 10⁶ cancer cells (10⁸ x 0.01). Therefore, the answer is 10⁶ cells.

A Patient Has a Tumor That Contains 10¹⁰ Cancer Cells