An Overview of Recent Developments in Cancer Research
Cancer is the name given to a group of related diseases. Diseases that fall under the umbrella of cancer are characterized by the uncontrolled division of cells that spread to other parts of the body. Cancer can occur anywhere in the human body.
As the cells become more and more abnormal, the old cells, which should die, start surviving, and new cells start growing, spreading in areas of the body where they are not needed. This is how tumors are formed.
Cancer information shows that some cancer cells develop a solid mass of the tumor, whereas some cancers, such as blood cancer or leukemia, do not produce solid tumors.
Recent developments in cancer research
Cancer research has yielded considerable gains in the past few years, leading to more extended and improved quality of life for cancer patients. Fast progress in cancer immunotherapy has helped in curing many cancer patients all over the world. Cancer immunotherapy treatments enhance the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.
Recent cancer research includes works on bi-specific drugs based on T-cell receptors that bind to the human leukocyte antigen peptide on cancer cells and recruit and redirect host immune T-cells which kill the target by apoptosis, which is the programmed death of cells. IMCgp100, Immunocore’s lead candidate efficiently redirects T-cells to kill gp100-expressing tumor cells.
The latest cancer information shows that patients with advanced melanoma had a better response to a combination of two immunotherapeutic drugs, ipilimumab, and nivolumab.
Pembrolizumab is a recently discovered drug that shows improved tumor response and survival rates. Along with improvements in immunotherapies, there have also been advancements in other fields such as surgery and chemotherapy. Low-intensity electric fields have been known to prevent the growth of tumor cells. This technique, when used on deficient survival rate cancers, such as brain cancer, is better at delaying the progression of the disease. Targeted therapies such as the ones attacking the cancer cells directly, without damaging healthy cells, have shown much development in the recent years with better success rates.
Through the increasing availability of cancer information and cancer research online , combined with technology and medical science advancements, several treatment procedures are being developed all over the world for a better chance at survival.
