Cancer Pharmacology
Summary of Key Points
• Cancer pharmacology encompasses the spectrum of therapeutic issues from everyday clinical treatment to the earliest stages of new drug discovery.
• The number of drugs approved for treating patients with cancer is rapidly rising.
• The era of oral drugs for cancer treatment is well underway.
• Drug actions, both desired anticancer effects and unfortunate adverse effects, are informed by the discipline of pharmacodynamics, which includes efforts to customize treatment for the specific tumor pathways in patients with cancer.
• Drug delivery issues, including selection and adjustment of doses, routes, and schedules of administration, are addressed by the discipline of pharmacokinetics.
• Navigating the explosion of information about cancer biology and the specific properties of drugs for cancer treatment will continue to be a challenge for oncologists and related health professionals.
1. The most important parameter for delivery of cancer drugs (pharmacokinetics) is:
2. Which is the preferred strategy for advising patients about taking drugs with food?
A Always take the drug with food.
B Always take the drug fasting.
3. The linkage between drug delivery and drug action is found via:
1. Answer: B. Clearance is the overall determinant of drug concentrations and variability across individuals. Other factors can occasionally be important in specific cases.
2. Answer: D. There is no best answer for each situation. For some drugs, the approved label strongly advises fasting. For other drugs, the labeling advises taking with food. For some drugs, either taking with food or fasting is okay. Finally, for some drugs, no advice is provided.
3. Answer: D. All three possibilities could have value, depending on what is known about the drug.
