According to the World Health Organisation the number of cancer deaths worldwide could double by 2030 to reach 13 million. Patients who are suffering from lethal types of cancers, with limited treatment options, suffer unbearable pain and are at great risk of developing life threatening complications.
Cancer experts are now sounding a alarm to stem the growing number of cancer deaths. Stem cell therapies offer a ray of hope to patients who are in the midst of a deadly cancer battle. Earlier stouted therapies such as large dose chemotherapy and hormonal resistance are coming to a close.
Cancer treatment has not been linear in recent years. Earlier therapies such as chemotherapy were effective in certain types of cancers but they had too high a degree of indiscriminate killing. For a certain number of patients with advanced or very severe cancers, survival rate had been substantially reduced to less than 10%. The key to complete survival was the access of bins for radiotherapy and the ability to follow the treatment plan on an ongoing basis.
Now, researchers are reporting that they have identified a ‘memory’ or ‘genetic’ marker. This appears to be a tumour DNA that can be detected in tumours. The memory appears to be a part of a cell called a stem cell. The detection of the tumour DNA may also help determine how to treat the cancer.
In the report, titled ‘ pallidum: a novel therapeutic target for therapeutic drug trials in advanced ovarian cancer’, the team from the King’s Breast Cancer Research Institute in London’s Heathrow Hospital discuss the development of a drug ‘ Enhanced pallidum’.
It has been in use clinically for over two years, where patients are started on a drug called ‘P pallidum’ after which they undergo a second, ‘Modified’ course of the drug to decrease the side effects such as pain and an upset tummy.
Stem cell therapy has been since the 1970s and in capable of helping battle against many infections, but until recently it has been less effective in combating cancer.
Most cancers take decades to develop, but extreme cases have caused breakthroughs in stem cell therapy which has seen doctors fight back symptomatically, in a move which doctors believe could revolutionise how to treat cancer in the near future.
Doctors have been able to overcome or greatly reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, which may only be mild in the case of localised tumours, meaning that the treatments are expected to help the patient beat back the cancer without indiscriminate killing of healthy cells.
Therapeutic drugs are expected to enable the successful implementation and timing of therapy, which may allow the treatment of advanced or resistant forms of cancer to be supported.
The report highlights the success of animal studies in the use of the drug since it can be used in a ‘washout’ or ‘ullage’ phase where the cancer is less likely to recur, the tumour shedding with it undergoing only a mild ‘transdifferentiation’.
Animal studies have confirmed the drug’s efficacy in preventing breast cancer’s expansion. The case in humans is not so positive, with many patients undergoing this type of therapy having their cancer successfully ‘defrosted’ but then relapse; on their next tummy tuck.
Some treatment options taken by women dealing with cancer are drastic, such as biological treatment; however, these choices are best discussed in stages with your physician, who can ensure that you consider all aspects of your emotional and spiritual health alongside your medical issues.
Every diagnostic test available to women nowadays, whether they’re looking for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or some other form of life threatening disease, is Combined with a hormonal therapy, and emotional and spiritual health plays a large part in a woman’s treatment.