A cancer medicine consists of a toxic drug attached to a monoclonal antibody. The target antigen is abundant on cancer cells and absent from most healthy cells.
Why may this treatment cause less damage to healthy tissue than an untargeted drug?
More drug binds to healthy cells, preventing exposure of most cancer cells.
The antibody removes drug toxicity whenever it reaches any living human cell.
More drug binds to cancer cells, reducing exposure of most healthy cells.
The antibody makes healthy cells immune to every toxic drug being used.
45 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Biology 5.3 Immune system and medicines, covering 5.3.1 The specific immune system, 5.3.2 Response to immunisation, 5.3.3 Advantages and disadvantages of immunisation, 5.3.4 Antibiotics and bacterial infections, 5.3.5 Aseptic techniques in culturing, 5.3.6 Cross-sectional areas of cultures, 5.3.7 Stages of developing new medicines, and 5.3.8 Production of monoclonal antibodies. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.