For many years the standard methods used for cancer treatment are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgery. These treatments use drugs that are designed to kill the rapidly dividing cancerous cells aggressively and are effective, but they do however, kill many healthy cells of an individual and result in severe side affects. It wasn't until the past few decades that the emergence of a new approach to cancer therapy has gained attention. Researchers have been focusing on the idea of cancer immunotherapy. The first immunotherapy maneuver was done back in 1860. A man by the name of William Cooley decided to inject bacteria into tumors. He noticed that the bacteria were provoking an immune response in patients and it had caused tumor regression. This was the first example that showed we could use the patients immune response to fight a tumor. Scientists have been struggling and attempting to create effective cancer treatments based on Cooley's observations. To understand how immunotherapy works it helps to know how your immune system works to fight against cancer. Cancer cells have substances on their surfaces called tumor antigens that raise an alarm in the immune system that says cancer is present. Antigen presenting cells ( APCs) roam the body seeking out and ingesting tumor antigens. The APCs then activate B cells and T cells. The B cells differentiate into plasma cells and secrete antibodies that bind to the tumor cell and mark them for elimination ( a humoral immune response). When T cells are activated they proliferate and undergo expansion, seek out, and destroy cells bearing the specific tumor antigens ( a cellular immune response). Sometimes your immune response does not destroy all of the cancer cells and this r... ... middle of paper ... ...y may be another area of research that may enhance anti-tumor activity. Creating better antibodies, like rituximab and others we are able to better target the tumor cell. There are many targets on our bodies immune cells and by being able to locate them specifically and boost the immune system in order for it to work better than it already can proves to be beneficial and harnessing this power can lead to a dramatic impact on the way we treat cancer. Maintaining and preserving patients quality of life and looking for lifelong cure is what scientists are looking for. Improving the efficacy of these immunotherapy treatments can lead to significant breakthroughs including longterm remission and being able to treat patients with cancer that is hard to treat. I look forward and can't wait to see the advances that will be made in this field or research in the near future.
Because of advancements in technology and funding survival rates have increased in each patient and quality of life due to better chemotherapy and radio therapy drugs are helping millions of survivors round the world to lead a generally normal life without the risk of the cancer returning.
Cancer has been around for over a 100 years and we still have yet to find a cure, or some sort of vaccination. Cancer is best described as an uncontrolled growth of malignant (cancer) cells attack the lymph nodes and your body’s immune system. Some types of cancer may cause alterations that affect regular cell growth and division. When these alterations, or mutations occur, they develop a mass of tissue called a tumor (Breast Cancer Treatment). With this vaccine, DCVax, participants that were included in these clinical trials have shown amazing results in overall survival time and shrinkage of tumors.
...0’s cancer mortality rates have dramatically decreased from 10% to over 80% for leukemia. Overall decline in mortality for cancer was nearly 54% from 1978 to 2008 (National Cancer Institute, 2011). Decrease in mortality rates are due to improvements in cancer treatments. Recent advances in treatments are due to aggressive cancer therapies and collaboration of findings from clinical trials. More than 80 percent of patients are expected to be long term cancer survivors (National Cancer Institute, 2011).
Cancer is a disease in which cells multiply out of control and gradually build a mass of tissue called a tumor. There has been a large amount of research dedicated to the treatment and cure of cancer. Several types of treatments have been developed. The following are just some of the major examples of cancer therapy: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biologic therapy, biorhythms, unconventional treatments, and hyperthermia. Each type of treatment is discussed in detail below.
When it comes to the topic of cancer, it is one of the most deadly diseases someone can ever contract. Cancer occurs when the cells divide and spread uncontrollably in the body creating clusters that have no space to go and eventually create a tumor (a swelling of a part of the body, generally without inflammation, caused by an abnormal growth of tissue, whether benign or malignant) that needs to be removed surgically. Depending on whether the procedure is successful or not, if it is, we can use a remedy for accelerated cell reproduction. Accelerated cell reproduction is the process of increasing and improving the reproduction and regenerative rate of cells so that they can perform the task of replacing lost or damaged cells, wounds, scrapes, healing scars, etc. As one uses snake venom to cure a snake bite, one can also use an acceleration of cell reproduction to cure cancer which involves cells accelerating and going in the wrong direction. People wonder why we have such terrible diseases such as cancer still abroad. It is because accelerated cell reproduction has not been put into effect. If it gets put into effect then we will have a starting point in our research to success. This will be the beginning of a new era if such a phenomenon were to place.
Cancer in one way or another touches all of us, whether as a patient or through the diagnosis of the people you love around you. Millions of patients who are faced with cancer are depending on oncologists everywhere to cure cancer so others will not suffer like they had to. Optimistically, sooner rather than later this international problem will come to an end. There are a number of drug companies that have been coming out with cancer treatment drugs. “Oncology has been one of the hottest and most active therapeutic areas for drug development, drug makers may want to take note of a finding that new cancer drugs have proven far more difficult to gain approval than medicines for infectious and autoimmune diseases.” (nature.com) Unfortunately, these drugs cannot cure the cancer but it sure makes it a load easier o...
...gens are exogenous (outside the cell) and will be presented to helper T cells to initiate an immune response. This can trigger cytotoxic T cells to kill cancer cells with the same antigen – often HPV viral proteins in cervical cancer. T cells may not be activated to their full potential – recall that the inhibitory receptor CTLA-4 on T cells sends a stronger signal than CD28, the activating receptor. Ipilimumab is added to treatment for this reason. It will work in conjunction with the released antigens, activating the T cells that can respond to the antigens and create an immune response against the cancer cells (LACC article). Adding ipilimumab to the chemo/radiation treatment would enhance the immune system’s ability to respond to the antigen released by the treatment. This is the first time a treatment like this has been suggested for cervical cancer (LACC).
Almost everyone is touched by cancer in some way and the number of people living with and beyond cancer grows greater every year. Globally 14 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year and 8 million people will die from it annually. Half of all men and one-third of all women will develop cancer during their lifetime. (13) There are many treatments for cancer, mainly: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. These traditional treatments have many negative side effects. Therefore, increasingly, other treatments, such as hormonal therapy and targeted therapy are being used for certain cancers. Nanotechnology is a form of targeted therapy that destroys cancer tumors with minimal damage to healthy tissues and organs. Scientists are already using nanotechnology in early detection of elimination of cancer cells before they form tumors. But the real game changer will be when nanotechnology targets cancer tumors in treatment (11,13).
Fifty years ago, a president boldly said “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth” (Kennedy). Since then, we have split the atom, spliced the gene, and roamed the surface of the moon. There has been an incredible advancement in medical technology, so why can’t we find a cure for cancer? If the United States government made research less of a financial liability, establish subsidies for less wealthy cancer patients, and let independent researchers be at the helm of research, finding a cure for cancer may be within our grasp. I understand that finding a
The body has two different responses to foreign invasions. The Humoral or antibody immune response uses the b cells to seek out the invader in the lymph or blood. The specific antigen will attach itself to the b cell and create plasma that contains the specific antibodies for the antigen or pathogen. The b cell will continue to create antibodies for the specific antigen or pathogen forever. A cell mediated response is one that involves mostly the T cell to seek out any foreign cell in the body and kill it. Includes cancers, tumors, and transplanted cells.
How is radiation therapy being improved some might ask,"Doctors and other scientists are conducting research studies called clinical trials to learn how to use radiation therapy to treat cancer
We now can find what specific cancer a patient has and where, and give them a variety of treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and several other types of treatment including experimental drugs. But there is no 100% guarantee that these treatments work. Ancient physicians and surgeons knew that cancer usually came back after it was removed surgically and recognized that there was no cure once the cancer had spread, and thought that intervention may be more harmful that no treatment at all. Some people today still think of cancer as incurable and wait until the last minute to go to the doctor. Galen was a 2nd- century Greek doctor that claimed a breast cancer tumor could be completely removed if it was caught at an early enough
When a cell in our body has become infected or has become cancerous it’s surface changes. This is how the immune system can tell good cells from bad ones (the markings on the surface.) Once a bad cell has been recognized our bodies sends cells to destroy the damaged cell and prevent the spread of whatever caused the damage in the first place. The next step our body takes is to have the affected cells start to produce interferons and other helpful substances. These help to fight off unwanted organisms, and also to warn other cells of the invaders and prepare them to resist them therefore preventing the spread of disease.
There are numerous reasons as to why I want to pursue my dream of becoming a radiation therapist. The most important reason is because I love to help other people overcome any problem they are facing. However saving a patient’s life through radiation would be even more amazing. Not to mention, after obtaining the proper education, the salary I receive will be fairly high. Cancer has recently become a part of many families, including my own. I see what a few of my family members are going through and having to struggle with every single day in order to live to see another day, The struggles that they go through have opened my mind in many ways, I wish I was the one that they could come to for a chance of survival, but I can’t, so in order for me to help cancer patients fight for their lives, I will obtain the proper education, licenses, and possess the numerous skills needed by a radiation therapist..
But, what are we doing about it? Do we have the technology to finally be able to put this deadly disease to an end? During the 15th century, scientists started grasping a better understanding of the human body. Giovanni Morgangi was the first to perform autopsies on patients to relate to their illnesses along with the finding of cancer after death. This laid the foundation of scientific oncology, the study of cancer.