Cancer- New Research, New
Results
by Lisa
Hyde
Cancer Research
Medical technology has made
tremendous advances in the last few decades. Yet it has not yet been able to
tame cancer. An effective treatment for the killer disease that also has less
of the unwanted side effects has evaded scientists and doctors over the years.
What is more, cancer cases and cancer deaths are increasing. Blame it
on lifestyle changes and pollution. But cancer still poses a challenge to
medical science. The disease is expected to affect 16 million people worldwide
every year up to the year 2020. The need of the hour is to identify the
cancer-causing genes and devise effective methods for the prevention of cancer.
Cancer research tries to identify the causes of the disease and develop
prevention, diagnosis, and treatment methods. Cancer research concentrates on
identifying the mutated genes that are implicated in cancer.
Billions
of dollars are being poured into cancer research the world over. Much of the
current cancer research is being funded by charity organizations, who are doing
their part to help in this fight against cancer.
Cancer research is a
complex subject. It includes epidemiology, molecular bioscience, and clinical
trials that assess the various cancer treatment applications. The treatment
methods employed for cancer are surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy,
hormone therapy, and chemo-radiotherapy. From the previous decade, cancer
research has been concentrating on biotechnology research such as immunotherapy
and gene therapy.
Certain hereditary factors can increase the chances
of gene mutations that cause cancer, such as the activation of oncogenes or the
inhibition of tumor suppressor genes. The oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes
functions can be disrupted during various stages of tumor progression. The
mutations of the genes can be used for classifying the malignancy of a tumor.
Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes must be identified during cancer research
to understand tumor progression and the success of the treatment. This is all
the more important as tumors can also develop resistance to cancer
treatment.
Chemotherapy is the most commonly used treatment for cancer.
Though surgery and radiation therapy destroy cancer cells in the specified
area, chemotherapy is a more all-round treatment. It destroys cancer cells
throughout the body. It tracks down and attacks cells that have spread from the
source of the tumor to the other parts of the body. Chemotherapy drugs can be
used in different combinations for cancer treatment.
Now cancer
research is moving to new territories. Scientists are beginning to identify the
genes that make cancerous tumors function the way they do. Scientists have
recently discovered that breast cancer spreads fast because of the protein
HSP27 present in the breast cancer cells. Breast cancers having a higher level
of HSP27 are more resistant to chemotherapy and other drug treatments.
Cancer research also is now focusing on the human immune system. It is
the immune system that detects irregularities in the human body and fights
them. However, the immune system seems to fail in recognizing the cancer cells
and attacking them. Research is therefore on to enable the immune system defend
the body against tumors.
With some of the best brains in the world
working on cancer research, and billions of dollars backing that effort, cancer
research is bound to come up with innovative therapies to treat this killer
disease.
About the Author: Lisa Hyde-Barrett, a registered
nurse and wellness advocate, understands the relationship between awareness and
prevention and make breast cancer awareness a top goal!
Please visit her
site: http://www.support-cancer-awareness.com
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