LATEST METHODOLOGY FOR CANCER TREATMENT

Latest Methodology for Cancer Treatment



Latest Methodology for Cancer Treatment

Introduction

A number of new therapies and technologies have begun to develop prominence in the treatment of cancer. These include treatment of cancer with anti-angiogenic factors, cancer vaccines—either gene therapy based or otherwise, biological agents that stimulate potent anti-tumor immune responses, monoclonal antibodies, COX-2 inhibitors, and other targeted biological cancer therapies (Pollitt, et al, 2005). New physical methods or technologies that have been developed or improved for the treatment of cancer include cryosurgery, hyperthermia, laser treatment, photodynamic therapy, and radiation therapy.

Latest Methodology for Cancer Treatment

Anti-angiogenic factors are an attractive approach to treating cancer because they prevent new blood vessels from forming. This prevents oxygen and other nutrient supples from reaching cancer cells, thereby inhibiting proliferation. In vivo, suppression of angiogenesis has prevented new blood vessels from forming, which resulted in tumor regression and elimination. Despite these positive results in mice studies, however, it has not yet been determined whether suppression of angiogenesis will be as efficacious in humans.

Cancer vaccines can be used to treat an existing cancer (therapeutic) or to prevent the cancer from ever forming (prophylactic). Both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines have shown significant potential in the treatment of tumors. Therapeutic vaccines work by bolstering the body's natural immune defenses against preexisting cancers. Therapeutic vaccines are able to suppress further growth of tumors and are an attractive approach for preventing recurrence of the tumor following resections (Pollitt, et al, 2005). They also provide a mechanism by which to destroy cancer cells that were not killed during prior alternative treatments. Prophylactic vaccines are given to healthy patients to stimulate an immune response against viruses that have the potential to trigger tumor growth.

To date, only two prophylactic vaccines have been approved for prevention of cancer-causing virus infections. The first is the hepatitis B vaccine, which triggers an immune response against liver cancer-causing hepatitis B viruses. The second is Gardasil, which prevents infection from the cervical cancer causing human papilloma virus types 16 and 18. Gardasil's benefits also include protection against human papilloma virus types 6 and 11, which can induce genital warts. Therapeutic vaccines have proven more challenging to develop into commercial products, although several promising clinical trials are currently underway. The most promising types of cancer vaccines under development include antigen/adjuvant vaccines, whole-tumor cell vaccines, dendritic cell vaccines, viral vectors/DNA vaccines, and idiotype vaccines.

Gene therapy is a treatment approach that involves inserting a genetic sequence into a person's cells to fight disease. For example, gene therapy can be used to enhance a patient's immune response to cancer, which would be achieved by inserting a gene into an antigen-presenting cell to enhance its ability to program the patients immune cells to detect and destroy cancer cells. Other gene therapy approaches include inserting genes into cancer cells, which results in increased production of chemokines and cytokines, which then enhance the immune system. Several clinical trials have shown significant potential for the treatment of tumors (Presta, ...