Iressa is a drug that was recently designed to inhibit the EGF signaling pathway

Question

Iressa is a drug that was recently designed to inhibit the EGF signaling pathway. If you were to discover that adding Iressa to cancer cells from some tumors killed them immediately,what might you suspect about EGF signaling in these tumors?Choose the best answer.

1)EGF receptor signaling in these cancer cells is needed for the cells to divide

2)EGF receptor signaling in these cancer cells prevents apoptosis

3)EGF receptor signaling in these cancer celss promotes cell growth and apoptosis

4)EGF receptors from these cancer cells bind to Iressa,leading to increased EGF receptor signaling

Explanation / Answer

Answer 2) EGF receptor signalling in these cancer cells prevents apoptosis

Since Iressa inhibits EGf signalling, and since adding Iressa to canver cells kills them. The cancer cells require the EGF signalling pathway to survive. Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death, which is required to prevent cancer. Cancer cells can prevent apoptosis or cell death, in this case probably by EGF which stands for epidermal grwth factor. This pathway promotes cell growth and division.

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