What Are The Potential Developments In Curing Cancer?
Cancer is the name of a class of malignant diseases which cause cells to grow uncontrollably. A survey conducted by the World Health Organization shows that cancer had caused 7.4 million deaths in 2004 alone.
Cancer has several causes. Mutations are among them, and there is immense scope for mutation in the human body. It can happen during cell division, during hormone formation and even during DNA replication. Cancer can also be caused by an infection, by hormone imbalances, by exposure to radiation or even by an anomaly in the genes.
A great deal of research has been done to find a cure for cancer. What makes it such a difficult undertaking is that there are several different types of cancer, and it can absolutely anywhere in the body. For example, it is not possible to treat cancer of the blood (leukemia) the same way cancer of the brain is treated. Different cancers will respond to different types of treatment.
Scientists researching melanoma (skin cancer) have discovered that melanoma cells are still able to recognize double stranded RNA, which is found only in viruses, as a threat. Double stranded RNA was injected into the cells themselves, triggering the other melanoma cells into destroying it. However, the delivery of the dsRNA is very difficult and work is being done in order to see whether dsRNA can give rise to a viable cure.
Another approach taken by the Cancer Research Center in UK was to develop a chemical known as Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor. Normal cells contain Tyrosine Kinase, an enzyme which gives the cells signals to grow and divide. In cancer cells the Tyrsine Kinase enzymes malfunction, giving the cells signals to grow uncontrollably. The researchers hope the Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor will inhibit the enzymes, making the cells stop growing.
Scientists in cancer research foundations aren't the only ones who are involved in the search for a viable cure for cancer. American John Kanzius is a radio and tv engineer. He was diagnosed with leukemia, and came up with a novel way of killing cancer cells. The cancer patient will be injected with nano-particles which will travel down the bloodstream and attach only to the cancerous cells. The patient will then be placed in an energy field of radio waves, which will cause the nano-particles to heat up. This heat will destroy the cells they are attached to. The patient feels nothing and there are no side effects, and this process was used to kill liver tumors in rabbits, with a success rate of 100 percent.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins have developed a pancreatic cancer vaccine and the results of the clinical trials are very promising. The vaccine is administered after surgery and again after chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients, even after treatment, was very low, but the vaccine, which teaches the healthy cells to recognize cancerous cells and fight them.
