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Recent Advancements in the treatment of Cancer |
Jun 01, 2009
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Over the past few years major advances have been reported in the medical treatment of various types of cancers. These range from paradigm shift to major incremental gains. In many cases new standards-of-care have emerged. Interestingly, the majority of developments do not rely on the use of conventional chemotherapy, which is often blamed for producing lots of side-effects. Rather, the overwhelming number of advances are secondary to the use of newly described types of drugs called monoclonal antibodies or signal transduction inhibitors. These drugs block the communication pathways of cancer cells. For example, addition of a monoclonal antibody Trastuzumab to the standard chemotherapy in a group of patients with breast cancer, improves the chances of survival tremendously. Similarly, prolongs use of a monoclonal antibody, Rituximab, in patients with indolent lymphomas increase the chances of survival without disease by three-to-four fold. In some cancers, where no good medical treatment was available, such as, the kidney and the liver cancers, new medicines, called signal transduction inhibitors, have not only given a ray of hope, but in some cases, it is now possible to prolong the chances of survival. Further refinement of treatment with improved chances of survival has also been witnessed in cancers of the colon, pancreas and the head and neck regions, with the addition of monoclonal antibodies or signal transduction inhibitors to the standard chemotherapy. In a few cancer types, these new group of medicines has completely obscured the need for treatment with chemotherapy, such as, in a form of blood cancer called chronic myeloid leukemia. Continuous efforts are being made to see if similar medicines can be used to treat other cancers effectively. After several years of apparent lull in the field of medical treatment of cancers, new exciting treatments have emerged with not only a potential, but with a proven record of offering hope to cancer patients and their caregivers. |
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