Question

You are caring for a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She has been genotyped and is homozygous for a TPMT polymorphism, producing very little of the enzyme needed for this drug's metabolism. How would you expect this to affect dosing of the drug 6-mercaptopurine? a. This child should receive only a small fraction of the standard dose. b. This child should receive higher doses than the standard dose. c. This child should receive the standard dose. d. This child should receive the drug intravenously rather than orally.

Answer 1

Answer:

This child should receive only a small fraction of the standard dose.

Explanation:

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia may be defined as the cancer in which the bone marrow continuously divide and results in the formation of large number of lymphocytes. This may also effect the red blood cells as well as platelets.

6-mercaptopurine drug is used for the treatment of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Since, child does not have enough enzyme for the metabolism of this drug, only the small amount of the standard dose of this drug for the cancer treatment.

Thus, the correct answer is option (b).