10 Questions On Future Cancer Research
Матеріал з Луцький НВК "Гімназія №14"
Getting cancer is one of the scariest things a person might have and it does not only affect the person diagnosed but in addition the people around that person also. Cancer is definitely an incredibly deadly disease with many different types. It's hard to find someone in the current world today who hasn't known somebody who has or has had cancer research scientist. Due to this, millions of dollars are spent each year on cancer research to get more information concerning this deadly disease as well as to identify new effective treatments and cures for it.
The basis of such research is to identify the kinds of cancer, diagnose cancer in patients, and also to find ways to stop, treat and cure the disease. You will find various ways that cancer is researched. These ways include epidemiology and molecular bioscience, which is then used in clinical trials to compare and evaluate the different treatments.
The different types of treatments that will be being researched are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, gene therapy, finding vaccines, targeted therapy and ways to increase the immune system. Anti-cancer vaccination research is done deals with exposing extracted tumors cells to UV light for a 24-hour period and after that injecting them back in to the organism. This approach has also been successful on rats.
Conversely, researches of this deadly disease has had its share of issues and is still battling some of them. The main issue it faces is funding. Most of the funding comes from donations, so people and different organizations have to go out and get funding from the general public. Stem cell research has also stirred up a lot of controversy just about halting any current testing within this field. Another controversial topic with cancer research is the clinical trials and also the usage of animals and human beings.
As mentioned earlier, funding is just one of the most significant parts of keeping such researches alive. There are plenty of organizations around that are doing their part to raise money for research. Some of these organizations include; The American Cancer Society, Institute of Cancer Research, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, United Devices Cancer Research Project, Friends of Cancer Research as well as the Walker Cancer Research Institute. This is just a short number of several of the organizations, but be assured that there are many more around.
Many volunteers world-wide commit themselves to raising funds for cancer research and cancer charities. Many hundreds of thousands more work in the industry as carers, or researching, prescribing, identifying and manufacturing drugs. Huge companies spend fortunes on cancer research. After so long and a lot of billions spent what exactly has cancer research revealed?
There happen to be regular breakthroughs in our comprehension of cancer, but little progress in its treatment. Modern research into cancer began in the 1940's and 50's when scientists isolated substances that killed cancer cells growing in a petri dish, or leukaemia cells in laboratory mice. Early successes in chemotherapy set the pace and received much media exposure, even though they only applied to 5% of cancer treatments at most.
Serving humanity by solving its major diseases has a celebrity status, there is a lot of kudos and an air of Hollywood involved with such things. Cancer research is high profile activity and every now and then a scientific treatment solutions are discovered that gains wide recognition, such as the HPV-16 trial, but it only applies itself to the treatment of a small portion of cancers. Mass-media hype is a part of the problem of how we see cancer. Early discoveries setup an expectation that there was a cure-all treatment, a 'magic bullet' that might make its discoverer famous by curing cancer across the globe. The idea stems in part from aspirin, the original bullet that magically finds its way to the pain and diminishes it.
In the 1950's and 60's huge and expensive research projects were setup to test every known substance to determine if it effected cancer cells. You could remember the discovery of the Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharansus Roseus), which revealed alkaloids (vinblastine and vincristine) that are still employed in chemotherapy today. Taxol, a therapy for ovarian and cancer of the breast originally came from the Pacific Yew tree. A treatment for testicular cancer and small-cell lung cancer called 'Etoposide' was produced from the May apple. In 'Plants Used Against Cancer' by Jonathan Hartwell over three thousand plants are identified from medical and folklore sources for the treatment of cancer, about half of which have been shown to have some impact on cancer cells in a test tube.
When these plants are made into synthetic drugs, single chemicals are isolated and also the rest of the plant can be thrown away. The medicinally active molecules are extracted from the plant and modified until they're chemically unique. Then the compound is patented, given a brand name and tested.
In the first phase it will generally be tested on animals, the other phase will decide dosage levels and in phase 3 it really is tested on people. By the time it is approved by the Federal Drugs Authority (in U.S.A.) or even the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulation Agency (M.H.R.A.) in Britain, the development costs for a brand new drug can reach five hundred million dollars, which eventually must be recouped from the consumer.
Along with 'treatment directed' research such as finding chemicals that effect cancer cells, basic research continues apace, into differences between normal and cancerous cells. Within the last thirty years this research has revealed much about our nature, but still no cure. Listed here are some current strands of scientific research into cancer.
Antibody-guided therapy: this really is the original 'magic bullet'. Cancer researchers use monoclonal antibodies to carry poisons directly to the cancer cells without harming others.
Chronobiology: much of what happens in our bodies is governed by cycles, from the female monthly cycle to the cycles of brainwaves. Human health relies on interacting cycles geared to acts of perception, breathing, reproduction and renewal. Chronobiology analyses these cycles in regards to different times, such as day and night. Hormones, including stress and growth hormones, have their very own cycles. For example they can be at their highest activity within the morning and quieter overnight. Cancer cells seem to no longer obey the same cycle rates as normal cells.
Anti-telomerase: one part of a cell, called the telomerase, governs the life cycle of a cell and the way many times it may multiply. Some cancer cells escape this control and can also increase the range of times they divide, becoming 'immortal'. Researchers hope to gain control over cancer cells by stopping the action of telomerase.
Anti-angiogenesis: secondary tumours (metastasis) can persuade the cells around them to grow new veins to feed the tumours, supplying oxygen and nutrients for the growing cancer. This process is called angiogenesis and research here is finding ways to stop the signals to normal cells that start the process.
Anti-adhesion molecules: Cancer cells form into clumps, unlike those in a petri dish which form in to a flatter arrangement. When you'll find clumps of cells they appear to possess a quality that resists treatment. This strand of research looks at ways that may stop the cells clumping together, by dissolving the clumps for more beneficial treatment.
