Looking for classes? Ksquare Career Institute, Bengaluru →
Human Health and Disease
Cancer: Treatment
2 question from 1 paper, each with its answer.
- questions
- 2
- paper
- 1
- of Human Health and Disease
- 1.65%
Concepts tested
- Radioactive iodine therapy
- Radiosensitivity of dividing cells
All Questions
2002 AIPMT 2 questions
-
Which of the following is used in the treatment of Thyroid cancer : -The thyroid gland takes up iodine from the blood to make thyroxine.
Radioactive iodine-131 given to a patient is selectively absorbed by thyroid tissue, including thyroid cancer cells. The radiation it emits ($\beta$ particles) destroys these cells while sparing most other tissues.
I-131 is also used to treat hyperthyroidism and to study thyroid function.
$C^{14}$ is used for dating, $U^{238}$ for dating rocks and as nuclear fuel source, and radium for older forms of radiotherapy.
So $I^{131}$ is used in the treatment of thyroid cancer. -
Cancerous cells can easily be destroyed by radiations due to : -Cancer cells have lost the normal controls of division, so they divide rapidly and continuously.
Cells are most sensitive to radiation while they are dividing, because the DNA is being replicated and the chromosomes are condensed; radiation damages the DNA and stops further division.
So radiotherapy kills rapidly dividing cancer cells more than normal cells, most of which divide slowly.
So cancerous cells are easily destroyed by radiation due to rapid cell division.