What is combination chemotherapy?
What is adjuvant chemotherapy?
Adjuvant: use drugs after surgery to remove residual or metastatic cells
What is neoadjuvant chemotherapy?
Neoadjuvant: use drugs before surgery to reduce tumor mass and to initiate chemotherapy sooner
Compare and contrast cell-specific and cell-nonspecific drugs.
What order of reaction is cell killing?
First order.
What percentage of cells are killed with 1 log kill drugs, 2 log kill drugs, and 3 log kill drugs?
Why are intermittent therapies used to treat cancer?
Intermittent therapies are used to kill as many cancer cells possible without killing the patient
What are drug transporters, the gene encoding them, and how do they cause drug resistance?
Describe the four principles of combination chemotherapy.
What is the main function of alkylating agents?
covalently binds to DNA
What are examples of alkylating agents, the general mechanism of action, and side effects?
What is the overall function of antimetabolites?
inhibits synthesis of DNA
What is the mechanism of action of the antimetabolite methotrexate? Why is leucovorin used as a “rescue”?
What is the mechanism of action of the antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil?
MOA: uracil analog that binds thymidylate synthase, preventing conversion of dUMP to dTMP

What is the mechanism of action of hydroxyurea?
MOA: inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, prohibiting conversion of ribose to deoxyribose for use in DNA synthesis
What is the main mechanism of action in antitumor antibiotics?
disrupts DNA structure and function
What are several examples of antitumor antibiotics and what is their mechanism of action?
What does the upregulation of L-asparaginase do in cancer cells? What is the enzyme it counteracts and the two amino acids being interconverted.
What is the main function of antimitotic agents?
block microtubule functions
What are the three different types of the antimitotic agents, microtubule inhibitors? What are the two contrasting mechanisms of action? What phase of the cell cycle do these drugs work in?
What are the two different types of the antimitotic agents, topoisomerase inhibitors? What is one example of each? What are the two contrasting mechanisms of action? What phase of the cell cycle do these drugs work in?
What is the main function of hormonal agents?
affect signaling through steroid receptors
What is one example and the mechanism of action of glucocorticoids, a type of hormonal agent?