Herceptin is a drug that is given to treat certain breast cancers.However, it is most effective on tumors that are overexpressing the gene HER2.Which of the following strategies would be best for determining whether Herceptin would be effective in a given patient?
A)Perform preimplantation genetic diagnosis on a patient to determine whether the patient's germ cells contain mutations in HER2, and treat with Herceptin if they do.
B)Obtain a patient's HER2 sequence and compare it to a database of known HER2 mutations to determine whether the overexpression allele is present; if the overexpression allele is present, give Herceptin.
C)Obtain a patient's HER2 sequence and compare it to a database of known HER2 mutations to confirm that the patient has mutations in the gene; then give Herceptin if any mutation is found.
D)Obtain a patient's HER2 sequence and perform microarray analysis to determine whether the patient contains other mutations in addition to the overexpression allele.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Obtaining a patient's HER2 sequence and comparing it to a database of known HER2 mutations to determine whether the overexpression allele is present is the best strategy. This will confirm whether the patient's cancer is likely to respond to Herceptin or not. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (A) is not relevant in this context, as it is used for screening embryos before implantation. Confirming mutations in the gene (C) is not necessary, as the primary concern is whether the overexpression allele is present. Microarray analysis (D) is not relevant as it is used for genome-wide analysis and not for targeted gene analysis.

Herceptin Is a Drug That Is Given to Treat Certain