3.4 - Building a Better Cancer Treatment

What is a single nucleotide polymorphism?

Substitution of one base of another that occurs in less than 1% of population. In a small region of DNA taken from 2 people, differing nucleotides are SNPs

What is a haplotype?

The combination of SNPs along a larger region of DNA —> can be thousands of possibilities —> ex: 3 SNPs = 8 possible haplotypes

What does examining haplotypes in people determine?

Which exist and which don’t (some never exist)

What do pharmacogenomics do?

Use SNPs and haplotypes associated with a medication (protein and gene affected) and the identify the SNPs that respond well and don’t respond to decide if a patient will respond to treatment

What is an example of what pharmacogenomics does?

Albuterol and asthma —> beta2AR protein and ADRB2 gene affected by Albuterol —> 13 SNPs possible —> 12 possible haplotypes —> SNP profile (haplotype pair) shows which people respond well to Albuterol —> know the SNP that can affect how they respond to albuterol

What are cantilevers?

Engineering to bind to molecules that indicate cancer changes (altered DNA, proteins, etc) —> bend when molecules bind —> detects cancer

What are nanopores?

Tiny holes that allow DNA to pass through one strand at a time —> looking for shape, electrical propertie, or base irregulatities and report to researcher —> detect cancer

What are nanotubes?

Thin carbon tubes that detect altered gene sequences —> look for areas with bulky molecule attached to known cancer region —> maps DNA to pinpoint mutation

What are quantum dots?

Tiny crystals that bind to specific DNA sequences and glow under UV light —> different sizes glow different colors

What are nanoshells?

Gold coated beads that can have different thicknesses to absorb different wavelengths of light —> seek out cancer targets with antibodies then apply light to kill cells

What are dendrimers?

Branching polymer (size of a protein) —> can carry medicine, molecule to detect cancer, and molecule to signal death of cell —> release treatment only if triggered by cancer (proteins, etc)

What are placebos?

Inactive pills or treatment that do not contain any kind of treatment

What is the placebo effect?

When they are told they have the medicine so their brain makes them seem better for a bit when in reality nothing changed —> part of control group

When a study is controlled one group _____ and the other does not

recieves treatment

What is an example of a controlled group?

100 people are given a new drug to treat diarrhea. 50 are given the new drug and 50 are given standard treatment

What is an example of a uncontrolled group?

100 people are all given the experimental drug —> nothing to compare data against

What is a clinical trial?

A study conducted by scientists and researchers to determine the efficiency and safety of new medicine, treatments, or diagnostic techniques

Nuremberg Code (1947)

Basic requirements for human experimentation —> voluntary and informed consent required, experiments must be scientifically necessary and ran by qualified people, benefit of science weighted against risk patients, patient can withdraw anytime

Kefauver-Harris (1962)

FDA can ban human experiments until animal and safety tests have been completed

FDA Regulation 21 (1966)

Required clinical investigators to certify informed consent

Helsinki Declaration (1975)

Reinforces Nuremberga and adds 3 things —> interest of subject is higher than society, every subject gets best known treatment, independent review of all human research is required (IRB - institutional Review Board)

National Research Act (1974)

Established local IRBs, approved federally funded research with human subjects, and created the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research

Open Trial

Both patients and researchers known what group the patient is in —> more prone to error and bias

Single Blind

Patients do not know what group they are in but researchers do (can cause researcher bias)

Double Blind

Neither researcher nor patient knows what groups they are in (control or experimental) until after treatment

Triple Blind

The patient, researchers (data collector), and person administering the drug do not know which group it is