Although there seems to be a long way to go to cure cancer, many breakthroughs have made the news these days. It seems that more people than ever are getting cancer diagnoses and are eager to hear any good news regarding a cure. There have been a lot of new treatments being tried that are very promising.
This is what has people wondering if the researchers are getting close to a cure. The problem is that cancer is complex and there isn’t a single factor that goes into the emergence of cancer in a person’s body. If you’re wondering if we are close to a cure then you need to be aware of what is happening in the latest research news. In this article, we will go over several factors that have people optimistic.
Small and large advances
There have been a lot of innovations that are happening quickly. Some of them are small but significant. For instance, the new 3D cell culture plates by Primesurface are replacing 2D versions which is making cell cultures much easier to research. It’s a small step but one that is helping researchers’ lives get easier.
There are many in vitro and in vivo experiments that are just about ready for human clinical trials. These treatments will reveal just how close we are to finding treatment for cancer or even an actual cure.
Starving tumors
Usually, to cure a disease, you have to figure out the cause and then shut that part down so it can then be eradicated. Since cancer is so different, it has proven very difficult to find a way to stop cancer from happening in a person.
What they are now thinking may work is to starve the tumors by keeping the nutritional supply cut off. If cancer doesn’t have what it needs to grow and spread then the thinking is that it can be managed and not become so deadly.
For instance, since glutamine is an essential amino acid that many types of tumors need to survive, they are looking into ways to cut off the supply. This will eventually cause cell death and prevent cancer from spreading further.
Nanoparticles
Many cancer treatments are very invasive and impact the quality of life of the patient in a dramatic way. There is also a small chance the treatments will even be successful which means a lot of suffering for poor results is the norm.
Nanoparticles are being heralded as a noninvasive way to attack tumors. These are particles that target tumors but not the surrounding healthy tissue. They have the ability to use heat to shrink the tumors. They can even be loaded with drugs that are sent directly to the affected tissue.
Vaccines
A vaccine is an ultimate weapon if one can be developed. There is a therapeutic virus that has been developed that seems to do what a vaccine would be able to. These viruses target tumors and leave healthy cells alone. When used in tandem with chemotherapy they have shown to be very effective.
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