Why is docetaxel an effective anti-cancer drug? At which stage of the cell cycle does docetaxel work? 1b. Kelly also took the chemotherapy drug carboplatin, which directly damages DNA, preventing DNA duplication and transcription. At which stage of the cell cycle (G0/G1/S/G2)or what stage of Mitosis(prophase / prometaphase / metaphase / anaphase / telophase)does carboplatin work most prominently? 1c. Prior to the year ~2000, women who were diagnosed with Her2+ breast cancer had a strong likelihood that the cancer would metastasize. Her2+ breast cancer is considered aggressive because women with Her2+ breast cancer had very poor survival rates. However, with the discovery of an antibody called Herceptin (trastuzumab) that specifically interferes with the ability of Her2 to transmit the growth signal to the cancer cells, now women with Her2+ breast cancer have a better chance of survival. Why is it useful to block transmission of a growth signal to the cancer cells? At which stage of the cell cycle do growth factors work? 1d. Would you predict that Herceptin (trastuzumab)is effective on all breast cancer patients? Why or why not?
Kelly has breast cancer. Her doctors determined her breast cancer wasaggressive, which meant that she needed to undergo chemotherapy. Her doctors recommended a combination of docetaxel (Taxotere®), carboplatin, and trastuzumab (Herceptin®). The following is her blog entry after her second chemo treatment:
As far as chemo symptoms go, the biggest has been fatigue. I was just tired, grumpy, and not my usual, peppy self most of the week. Other very minor things—tiny bit of stomach upset at the beginning of the week, but just enough to make me not feel like eating a big steak, not enough to keep me from eating soup or sandwiches. My scalp felt a little irritated—for the girls out there, itwas the feeling of having my hair in a tight ponytail all day and then letting it down, and the follicles just feel prickly—this is normal for several daysbefore the hair falls out. Also, I have a weird dry mouth feeling, so some things taste a little different. But seriously, these are really minor issues. Jack has decided my new nickname is “Splotch.’” I shaved my head in preparation for my hair falling out. Now I have splotchy patches where my hair has fallen out and lots of zits...fun stuff! See the “design” Jack made in my hair when it first got super loose and was easily to accidentally pull out—pain free, I promise!
Question:
1a. Kelly took the chemotherapy drug docetaxel, which interferes with the disassembly of microtubules, which is important for pulling apart sister chromatids during mitosis. Why is docetaxel an effective anti-cancer drug? At which stage of the cell cycle does docetaxel work?
1b. Kelly also took the chemotherapy drug carboplatin, which directly damages DNA, preventing DNA duplication and transcription. At which stage of the cell cycle (G0/G1/S/G2)or what stage of Mitosis(prophase / prometaphase / metaphase / anaphase / telophase)does carboplatin work most prominently?
1c. Prior to the year ~2000, women who were diagnosed with Her2+ breast cancer had a strong likelihood that the cancer would metastasize. Her2+ breast cancer is considered aggressive because women with Her2+ breast cancer had very poor survival rates. However, with the discovery of an antibody called Herceptin (trastuzumab) that specifically interferes with the ability of Her2 to transmit the growth signal to the cancer cells, now women with Her2+ breast cancer have a better chance of survival. Why is it useful to block transmission of a growth signal to the cancer cells? At which stage of the cell cycle do growth factors work?
1d. Would you predict that Herceptin (trastuzumab)is effective on all breast cancer patients? Why or why not?
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