Targeted Therapy and the Resistance That Follows It · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Why targeted drugs stop working

Science · Organisms & Life Processes · ages 22-24
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What is the therapeutic window?

    • A dose gap between stall and harm
    • The count of pills in one bottle
    • The months a drug sits in storage

  2. What does oncogene dependence mean?

    • Some tumours lean hard on one driver
    • Healthy cells also need that drug
    • Each pathway matters about the same amount

  3. Bypass resistance changes the drug binding pocket so the inhibitor no longer grips.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. The original target stays suppressed but a parallel receptor is now active. What is it?

    • On target pocket change seen
    • Bypass around the block
    • Target active despite the block

  5. Relapse sequencing shows a fresh pocket mutation, and pathway output stays high. What do you conclude?

    • Bypass via a parallel pathway route
    • The drug failed to reach the tumour
    • On target with the pathway intact

  6. Why does relapse often arrive faster than mutation rates predict?

    • Drugs create the needed changes directly
    • Resistant cells present or newly arisen
    • Tumours stop dividing while under treatment

  7. How do you design for lasting control given pre-existing clones?

    • Stay the course with one blockade
    • Close escape routes with combos
    • Treat the pocket change as bypass

  8. A colleague blames every relapse on poor dosing. What better hypothesis do you test first?

    • Test for on target or bypass
    • Recheck drug levels in blood
    • Assume the target was wrong
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Why targeted drugs stop working W1-mt_HrU1DfZhGz-s1

  1. A dose gap between stall and harm · Strong dependence can widen the gap; the gap never promises safety.
  2. Some tumours lean hard on one driver · Strong dependence means the crutch matters more to the tumour; benefit stays conditional.
  3. False · That describes on target resistance, while bypass reroutes around the blockade.
  4. Bypass around the block · Growth switched routes while the target stayed blocked, which points toward testing a second blockade.
  5. On target with the pathway intact · A changed pocket with the same essential pathway argues on target.
  6. Resistant cells present or newly arisen · Rare variants may pre exist or arise, so selection has raw material either way.
  7. Close escape routes with combos · You try to close routes together early, guided by repeat sequencing.
  8. Test for on target or bypass · Tumours evolve under therapy, so you read the escape route from fresh data.
Worksheet · LightMySky