New Cancer Treatments
As million of survivors can attest, the dreaded diagnosis of cancer is no longer an inevitable death sentence. Combinations of conventional treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy can cure about half of all cancers, according to Dr. Steven Rosenberg, chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute.
But Rosenberg and other oncology researchers refuse to rest on their laurels. They are striving to devise and perfect new targeted treatments and biological therapies in hopes of achieving the cancer institute's ambitious goal of eliminating death and suffering from cancer within the next decade.
History
The search for new cancer treatments can be traced through human history. Ancient Egyptians tried without success to treat breast cancer through cauterization. Most other efforts to cure cancer also failed prior to the advent of modern surgical techniques and development of radiation therapy and chemotherapy during the twentieth century.
Notable progress has been made since President Nixon declared war on cancer during his 1971 State of the Union address. Months later, Congress approved the National Cancer Act --- a landmark piece of legislation that deemed the conquest of cancer a national crusade. This effort ultimately provided the National Cancer Institute with vital infusions of financial support and bureaucratic independence, paving the way for the scientific breakthroughs that have led to today's new cancer treatments.
Significance
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States. The American Cancer Society says one-third of all women and half of all men in the United States will develop cancer during their lives. Globally, cancer was responsible for 7.9 million deaths in 2007, according to the International Union Against Cancer. On the brighter side, the incidence of cancer and cancer deaths are both decreasing in the United States.
The costly and time-consuming search for new cancer treatments doesn't always pan out. Only one-quarter to one-half of new therapies prove successful in clinical trials, according to a 2008 study funded by the National Institute of Health. The study was based on an analysis of data from 624 trials involving 216,451 patients.
Function
Although there are dozens of different kinds of cancer, all of them share two common characteristics: uncontrolled cell growth and an ability to spread to other areas of the body, which is known as metastasis.
Many new cancer treatments are designed to slow both the growth and spread of cancer cells. These newer methods often will act to enhance the effectiveness of existing treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Targeted Treatments
Unlike conventional therapies that can damage both cancerous and healthy tissues, targeted treatments focus solely on specific cancer-related molecules. A number of drugs used in these targeted approaches have won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of breast cancer and some forms of leukemia.
Biological Therapies
Biological therapies are intended to utilize a patient's own natural immunities to battle against cancer cells. For instance, researchers have found ways to multiply and strengthen immune cells called lymphocytes as one defense against certain cancers. Another form of biological therapy involves ongoing studies into the creation of cancer vaccines.
New Uses for Existing Drugs
Sometimes new cancer treatments simply involve finding new uses for existing medications.
A drug called thalidomide was introduced in Europe and Canada back in the 1950s to treat morning sickness in pregnant women. After being blamed for causing birth defects in thousands of children, it was banned worldwide. Today, however, thalidomide is being studied as a potential new cancer treatment because of its ability to curtail the blood supply to malignant tumors.
Another medication called lovastatin that has been used to help control cholesterol levels also is being studied as a new treatment for pancreatic cancer because of its tumor-reducing properties.
Tags: cancer treatments, National Cancer, radiation therapy, radiation therapy chemotherapy, therapy chemotherapy, United States
