Cancer is a disease that has stumped doctors and researchers for decades. It can affect any tissue or organ in the body where abnormal cells grow uncontrollably. Normal cells grow and multiply through cell division. When they grow old or damaged, they die and get replaced. Cancer occurs when this process is interrupted when cells multiply when they shouldn’t and keep growing into tumours. Cancerous tumours invade nearby tissues and organs. This is known as metastasis. However, when cancer occurs in the blood, it doesn’t.
According to the World Health Organisation, one in six cancer patients die. Around 9.6 million cancer-related deaths happen each year. Cancer is a heavy burden for patients and families. Treatment is long-reaching, expensive, and sometimes inaccessible. It also puts a strain on healthcare systems and communities. However, there is a radical new cancer treatment in the form of a pill that can target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact.
Types of Treatment
Doctors choose cancer treatment depending on the severity of the tumours. There are plenty of localized treatments, such as surgery or radiation therapy. These target the site of the tumour, especially if it hasn’t spread. Drug treatments such as chemotherapy can be a secondary treatment after surgery. However, they’re also used as primary treatments to target individual tumours or even when cancer has spread. Drug treatments are also systemic treatments because they target the whole body.
Fallopian Tube Removal And Why It Could Help Beat Ovarian Cancer
Targeted therapy is a form of treatment where one or multiple cancer treatments target an affected area. Cancer cells have a different genetic code than normal cells. Different cancer cells within the body, such as colon cancer cells, behave differently compared to prostate cancer cells. Additionally, one patient’s colon cancer will differ from another patient’s. With this information, researchers can create specific cocktails with special proteins or enzymes to instruct cancer cells to stop growing. Targeted therapy drugs don’t work the same as chemo drugs because they don’t target healthy cells. They also block cancer cells from developing.
Immunotherapy is done by stimulating or boosting the immune system to attack cancer cells. A patient is also given immune system components to restore or bolster the immune system to target cancer cells.
Another form of treatment is a stem cell or bone marrow transplant. All blood cells start out as stem cells. They are found in the bone marrow. Transplants are done from bone marrow, blood cells, or the umbilical cord of newborns. Cancers that affect bone marrow function, such as leukaemia, myeloma, or lymphoma, may require bone marrow transplants during treatment.
Some cancers rely on hormones to grow. Therapy that blocks or alters hormones can help stop the growth of these cancers. This is used to treat breast or prostate cancer which relies on hormones to grow. Hormone therapy is a systemic treatment because it targets hormone production and function throughout the body. The different medications administered stop the production of the specific hormone, block it from attaching to cancer cells, or alter its function.
Health: Types Of Breast Cancer And Treatment Options
The new cancer pill
The groundbreaking experimental cancer pill can target up to 70 different types of cancer. It’s called AOH1996. It targets a protein known as proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). This protein is found in all body cells. It plays a role in DNA function, metabolism, cell replication and repair machinery.
Cancer cells have mutated PCNA cells to allow them to function abnormally, grow, multiply, and spread. AOH1996 is able to kill cells with cancerous PCNA protein selectively and leaves healthy cells unharmed. AOH1996 caused programmed cell death apoptosis which is the death of cells through suicide. This is the intracellular death program activated in cells that are no longer needed.
Initial studies show that AOH1996 is effective against breast, brain, lung, prostate, ovarian, and skin cancers, among others. However, this was conducted among cell cultures in a lab using animal studies. Phase one human trials are currently underway. Doctors hope that this is the first step in finding a simpler cure-all method to beat cancer finally.
Check out:
Breast Cancer Advocates Call For Patient Involvement In Shaping Research And Treatment
Health: The Early Morning Signs Of Cancer
8 Myths About Breast Cancer Debunked
Cervical Cancer: Warning Signs, Symptoms And Risk Factors
Prostate Cancer: Warning Signs, Symptoms, And Risk Factors
Cancer – Here Are Some Of The Causes And Symptoms To Look Out For
Health: How To Know If You’re At Risk Of Developing Breast Cancer