More funding and research go into cancer treatment than perhaps any other field. It is a disease that has impacted so many and continues to do so to this day. Researchers and specialists have dedicated their lives to fighting cancer, helping those suffering from it, and protecting future generations.
Over the past few years, there have been a number of exciting developments in cancer research. These promise new treatments for patients and can offer them increased chance of survival and a greater quality of life. What’s more, we are also beginning to see predictive methods that can be used to assess a patient’s likelihood of developing cancer before steps are put in place to stop it. Let’s find out more.
EndoPredict
Breast cancer is a devastating disease that affects millions of people across the world. Catching and treating breast cancer early is vital, this can help to prevent it from worsening and spreading to other areas of the body.
The EndoPredict test for breast cancer can be used to evaluate how likely a patient’s cancer is to spread to other parts of the body within 10 years of diagnosis. This can prove to be absolutely vital information; it can give doctors a foundation on which to build a treatment program and can give patients an idea of potential disease progression and prognosis.
The test is carried out on tissue that has already been removed from the patient, such as for a biopsy, which is then studied and graded using a special scoring system. The results of the scoring can determine the severity and spread likelihood of that patient’s cancer.
Guadecitabine
Immunotherapy is the process of utilising the patient’s immune system to target and kill cancerous cells in the body. However, not all patients respond well to immunotherapy treatments, and in some cases, tumours can even evolve and adapt to resist it.
Recently, scientists discovered that the DNA hypomethylating agent guadecitabine can be used to reduce a cancer’s ability to resist immunotherapy drugs. This is a significant breakthrough, combined treatment programmes using both immunotherapy medications and guadecitabine have been found to substantially increase cancer patients’ life expectancy.
DCVax Vaccine
Glioblastoma is one of the most common forms of malignant brain tumour. It can be extremely aggressive, with patients living for around a year on average after diagnosis. It can be notoriously difficult to treat, the cancerous cells often prove resistant to traditional treatment drugs, while operating is difficult due to the tendency of the cancer to grow on healthy brain tissue.
However, a trial that administered the DCVax vaccine to patients with glioblastoma revealed some incredible results. Newly diagnosed patients who received the vaccine lived for an average of 19.3 months subsequently, compared to those who did not who lived for an average of 16.5 months. This could prove to be a major step towards the effective treatment of a terrible disease.
Conclusion
Cancer will affect us all in some way. Finding successful treatments, cures, and preventative measures has never been more important.
