Monroe Community College Biology Essay

Emperor of all Maladies: Finding the Achilles Heel

Watch episode 3: Finding the Achilles Heel 

Episode 3:  Finding the Achilles Heel Questions : 

1. Explain how the behavior/characteristics of cancer, as a disease lead to the development and practice of palliative care?

2. Known preventable causes of cancer are hard to find, however there are two major life style choices that are linked to several different types of cancer.  

    What are they?  

     Describe how each behavior leads physiologically to the development of cancer.

3. What is the Fairness Doctrine and how was it applied to the campaign to stop smoking?

4. What impact did the Human Genome Project have on understanding cancer and devising possible treatments?  

5. What category of genes was discovered as a result of this project, and what is their role in cancer?

6. Discuss the pros and cons of individualized targeted immune therapies versus taking the “restraints” off of immune cells.  

7. For what reason(s) do our immune cells have built in restraints?

8. Why do some treatments work in some patients and on some types of cancer, but not on others?

9. Many times throughout the history of cancer, researchers and physicians thought they had found a “cure” for cancer only to discover that cancer eluded their treatment once again.  Do you think there will ever be a cure for cancer or will it simply become a manageable condition such as other chronic diseases?  Explain why you believe this.

Have the Questions available while you are viewing the episode .