Can TMB Be the New Chemotherapy?

The article discussed can be found here:

May, M. (2018, February 2). Tumor mutation burden: unlocking cancer’s genetic fingerprint. Scientific American Custom Media. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/custom-media/tumor-mutation-burden/.

(https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2017/11/28/nano-mapping-dna-mutations-with-crispr-could-transform-disease-treatment/)

This week, Derrick, Kim, and I decided to stay on the topic of cellular biology and implications on genetic diversity. Similar to last week, we used the internet as a resource and browsed through different scientific websites and databases. We found an article on Scientific American titled “Tumor mutation burden: unlocking cancer’s genetic fingerprint.” The article talks about how targeted cancer treatments based on an individual’s disease biology can be possible due to predictive biomarkers. Chemotherapy has been a popular treatment, but it attacks many cells, but a targeted treatment will attack specific cells. Biomarkers are helpful tools as it can reveal the disease and how an individual may respond to treatment. Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) is a growing area in biomarker research (May, 2018). We chose the article for a number of reasons which include the topic, length, and content. The article has a problem/solution text frame as it identifies a more specified cancer treatment that could have positive benefits on cancer patients.

Upon first glance, I saw that the text was relatively short which made me feel at ease because long, scientific text can be overwhelming. Upon reading the text in a reader’s stance, I was able to understand the flow of the article. Luckily, I have enough background knowledge to comprehend the scientific terms. However, there were times I needed to research a certain vocabulary word or certain process to improve my comprehension. The important point I got from reading the article was that TMB is very important in biomarker research which can have a profound impact on cancer treatment. I also got that there’s still so much research left for TMB so while it’s a hopeful treatment, there needs to more research and power behind it. While there were graphics throughout the article, I didn’t necessarily find it helpful, but it did help break up the text. After reading the text, I realized that it helped foster my critical literacy skills as I needed to comprehend at a deeper level to truly understand where the author was coming from (McLaughlin, 2015).

Derrick, Kim, and I thought this text was appropriate for a high school level biology class. This article aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core because students have to gather information in order to understand a process (https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/hs-ls3-1-heredity-inheritance-and-variation-traits). Due to the terminology, students must have a good understanding of genetics, DNA structure and function, cancer, biomarkers, and how cancer can be treated.

As a teacher reading this text, I thought this article would be another great resource for real world application. Some students may have personal experiences with cancer so it could be a topic of interest. The main idea of the article is cancer and how a targeted treatment such as TMB which uses specific biomarkers can be a new line of action. Specifically, students have to understand the general process of how cancer can be treated with chemotherapy to understand that TMB could be an alternative treatment. The article had headings throughout which helped understand the flow. The article started with chemotherapy then it introduced TMB. From there, the remainder of the article talked about TMB’s potential, settings the standards, and the future steps. The reading has extensive vocabulary so it would be appropriate to provide this as a resource to supplement instruction after cancer, mutations, and DNA structure topics are covered. To help, I would provide a glossary for students to refer to or have a discussion prior to reading to introduce new or difficult vocabulary. The author is portraying an informational style text, but in a way he is trying to be persuasive in selling that TMB is the future of cancer treatment but that more research needs to be done. The author anticipates readers who have a science and/or medical background as the terminology is specific to science. Overall, the text was informational, straightforward, and structured well.

The reading strategy that Kim provided was the “bookmark technique.” This strategy is often used with narrative and expository text which works well for the article we chose (McLaughlin, 2015). Prior to reading, I was asked to record four prompts, also known as four bookmarks. These bookmarks entailed questions that guided my comprehension to ensure I was on task and understanding what I was reading. I was also asked to record page numbers which helped me refer back to the answer I wrote if I needed clarification. I think this strategy is really effective in guiding reading and ensuring comprehension. The bookmark questions go more in depth such as identifying the purpose is for the text, identifying important vocabulary, identifying any confusion, and determining if the visuals provided in the text were helpful. I thought the strategy was very effective in guiding my reading and ensuring my comprehension. It also required that I ask and think about purposeful questions that go deeper than the surface.

References

May, M. (2018, February 2). Tumor mutation burden: unlocking cancer’s genetic fingerprint. Scientific American Custom Media. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/custom-media/tumor-mutation-burden/.

McLaughlin, M., (2015). Content Area Reading: Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness. Boston: Pearson.

NGSS (n.d.). HS-LS3-3 Heredity: inheritance and variation of traits. Retrieved from https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/hs-ls3-3-heredity-inheritance-and-variation-traits