The correct option is
C Chemotherapy : Application of chemical agents on organs
Cancer is a disease in which the affected body cells grow uncontrollably, spread and destroy the surrounding tissues.
In healthy organisms, during this process, when cells come in contact with other cells, the process of cell replication ceases by a property of cells called contact inhibition. But in case of cancer cells this property is lost and hence uncontrolled growth begins leading to the formation of tumors.
For the treatment of cancer there are various ways like surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
- Surgery – Removing localized cancerous mass through surgical procedures. This process is highly effective for benign tumors as they are localised and will not spread to other areas. So option a is correct.
- Radiation therapy – The affected body part is exposed to radiations like X-rays, protons or other types of energy to kill the cancer cells. Tumor cells are irradiated lethally without harming the normal tissues surrounding the tumor mass. So option b is true.
- Chemotherapy – Chemotherapeutic drugs are used to kill cancer cells, stop the spread and slow their growth. The drugs are administered by mouth, in shots or intravenously. They are not directly applied on organs. So option c is wrong.
- α- interferons- Tumor cells have shown characteristics to avoid detection and destruction by the immune system. So, the patients are administered with biological response modifiers (glycoproteins) such as α-interferons which activates the immune system and helps in destroying the tumor. Interferons are normally produced by the virus infected cells in our body to stop spreading the infection to other helathy cells. Hence option d is true.
Figure : Mechanism of action of interferons
Interferons increase antigen presentation to lymphocyte cells; this helps to eliminate foreign bodies. Thereby, helping the immune system to identify and target the cancer cells.
Many chemical drugs and treatment methods have side effects in cancer patients like hair loss, anemia. So, interferons are injected into cancer patients to develop immunity, to fight against the cancer cells. So that the side effects of drugs and other treatment methods can be reduced.