What is Cancer?

Cancer is classified as a disease that is caused by the rampant growth by cell divisions that occur too frequent. The cells can lodge into nearby tissues and eventually develop into a mass of cancer cells to produce a ‘lump’ or tumor. Tumors are classified as benign or malignant. Benign tumors stay in one part of the body and are easily removed but cells from malignant tumors break off and form secondary tumors spreading throughout the body.

The capability of forming tumors can be reduced by changes in gene expression with the help of microarrays of cDNA. In skin cancer, the dissolution of production of tumors can be accomplished by presenting the human chromosome 6 (a normal chromosome) which has great effects in diminishing growth rates and restoring contact inhibition.

Genomics of Cancer treatment

An organism's genome is open to mutagens which alter the genetic information and therefore, increases the recurrence of mutations. One of these mutations may change the role of a certain gene and can result in a growth advantage in the cell. The Cancer Genome Project's aim is to specifically investigate the cancer genome to recognize and label genes that cause the growth and spread of human cancer. Their goal in recognizing these cancer biomarkers will aid in genetically identifying patients that have a great chance of responding to the target therapy treatment. 

In the treatment of cancer, target therapy can be used where the drugs involved acts as a constraint, thereby preventing pathways that are involved in the growth of cancer cells. Target therapy has an advantage over chemotherapy since only the cancer cells are destroyed while the healthy normal cells are not affected. In chemotherapy however, normal cells that undergo rapid division are also killed. Another advantage is that certain cancers that don't respond to chemotherapy, for example kidney cancer, respond to target therapy and the side effects are better regulated. Chemotherapy results in short term side effects that include nausea, mouth ulcerations and incipient dementia and severe long term effects like having a greater chance of developing other types of cancers. 

Certain anti-cancer drugs (Examples : Sorafenib (Nexavar), Sunitinib (Sutent), and Temsirolimus (Torisel) prohibit the synthesis of new blood vessels surrounding tumors depriving them of oxygen and nutrients for growth. This may result it them reducing in size and prolonging the development of cancer and in the long run, the patient's life.

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy entails many types of treatments that use genetic material to alter cells in accomplishing the goal of finding a cure. For example, patients diagnosed with lung cancer and survived were used as models and with the help of gene therapy, cancer vaccines were produced, cancer cells were targeted for death, angiogenesis was terminated (growth of blood vessels surrounding the tumor was obstructed) and genes were introduced which either killed the cancer cells or restored the wild type phenotype of the cell. 

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is an approach used to treat a disease by strengthening the immune system so it can recognize and eliminate the cancer cells. Unfortunately, cancer cells have a tendency to develop and mechanisms that escape immune detection. Cancer cells are obtained from an individual and are made to grow in a controlled environment and then are made to be identified by the immune system by a few genes (usually cytokine genes). These genes produce molecules that promote systemic inflammation. The modified cells are then grown in a controlled environment and destroyed and the remaining contents of the cells are combined to produce a vaccine. (Refer to Figure 5)

Figure 5 : A Schematic diagram representing immunotherapy using altered cancer cells.

Back to home