By His Grace and Blessings, I write…..
Chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, targeted therapies, hormonal therapies and immunotherapy etc fall under category of conventional therapies for cancer cure. Many a times, theses therapies have proved inadequate due to their toxic side effects, painful and long procedures, expensiveness and in their inability to prevent re-occurrence of cancer. In my earlier blogs on cancer, I have suggested a wide array of alternative therapies that have proved very useful in treatment of cancer.
However, all said and done, the conventional therapies still form the backbone of cancer treatment worldwide. In addition to development of various alternative therapies, there has been a revolutionary transformation in conventional field of cancer treatment during last 10-15 years. My blog today will be a discussion around these scientific breakthroughs in the field of conventional treatments.
The major international collaboration called Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genome (PCAWG) is a very significant development in conventional treatment of cancer. Under it, 2,658 cancer genomes and their relationship with normal tissues across 38 tumours types have been identified. The researchers identified 16 types of structural variations or signatures in genes that ultimately lead to cancer. The project studied 99% of genomes including key regions that control switching genes off and on. These switching genes are the most important regulatory mechanism available to the body in case of attacks by virus or faulty mutations of body cells which morph into cancer. PCAWG researchers have utilised the data base of whole genome sequencing and have delineated various parameters that influence tumour evolution and shapes cancer genomes. Mutations identified by teams have been catalogued and are available online to any doctor, anywhere in the world.
Identification and cataloguing of the cancer genes is a crucial step in understanding genesis of cancer and development of drugs. There is always a genetic link to cancer and a host of factors can be responsible for faulty mutations. It is sometimes a force-majeure, with no one in a position to decipher the reasons for occurrence of cancer. However, this genetic identification helps in pre-empting the disease like in case of Hollywood actress Angelia Jolly, who underwent a preventive double mastectomy for specifically targeting delinquent gene BRCA-1. This gene is responsible for breast cancer. Genetic analysis of tumours protocol is practised worldwide, and as on date out of 200 cancer causing mutations, nearly 40 have a specifically targeted drug.
Another area of research which seems to be very promising are the technologies from the Silicon Valley. Programmable immune cells-immunotherapies that externally tell the immune cells to ignore signals “Don’t Eat Me’ from the cancer cells. This is some sort of precision medicine for everyone, whereby the resistance of cancer cells to drugs and to immune systems of the human body is broken through use of computer programmes developed in the Silicon Valley. Moreover, there is another technology whereby genes may be inserted into patients’ immune cells and doctor can focus and target cancer cells.
A very promising drug that has been in development and approval stage for over last 15 years is NKP-135. It is based on use of heavy metal Ruthenium (Ru) in manufacturing of cancer drugs. Ru has been found to have shown unique chemical properties and is very promising like platinum. The use of platinum has increased saving rates of testicular patients from 5% to 95% and similar is the promise of Ru. However, the legal hurdles and the lack of funding have so far prevented many such therapies to see the light of the day.
By His Grace and Blessings. I write…..
Dr. Seema Chaudhary
4 Responses
Ma’am
Ideally I feel successful treatments should be an amalgamation of traditional plant science, organic biochemistry, physiology as well as to some extent psychology.
Though conventional methods are not full proof…. like even you imply I believe these are the only given methods available at this very time. So till the parallel achieves a certain degree of success it is pleasing to know that even here (conventional side) we are trying and seeing positive developments.
Yes Manae Ji..your observations are very appropriate..we actually need an integrative system to deal with the menace of cancer ..the need is to explore all the alternatives and be open to new knowledge and possibilities in this area…thanks for sharing your insights..
Rightly explained ma’m, today in the present time conventional treatment has been widely accepted. However most ruthenium complexes are only in the beginning stages of the approval process for anti-cancer drugs, many of their properties may give them advantages over many platinum-based drugs now in use. The organisation of medical professions in the world should come forward to clear the hurdle of complicated process of approval to menace the monstrous disease.
Thanks Baitha ji for your thoughtful comments. it seems that there are revolutionary breakthroughs in conventional treatment and use of Ru promises to be one such field. Platinum has served very well in certain types of cancer and is also a promising field in application of heavy metals in cancer treatment. Ru can be as useful in some other types of cancers…hope the tings imrove and world become free of this disease..Sarve Santu Niramaya so say the Upanishad…