The thought of hospitalization, surgery, or any prolonged treatment can send shivers down the spine of anyone. Mention cancer, and even the brave buckle down with fear. In an age when modern science has an answer for every trouble, cancer still seems to elude a solution.
Cancer is a complicated disease because factors like the environment and hereditary can make each case unique and difficult to treat. However, the treatment for each unique case is not tailor-made. For example, a chemotherapy drug that is used to “diagnose” and “treat” the cancerous cells can cause other probelms. The drug will not only halt the growing of the tumor cells, but also other similar fast growing cells like hair follicles, and cells in the digestive tract, bone marrow, etc. The result is patients suffer further consequences like severe hair loss, loss of appetite and so on and so forth. But, what if you could control these drugs to act in specific way? Is it possible to program the drugs to target only the tumor cells, and leave out other similarly-behaving cells?
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) are finding new ways to kill cancer cells. The process uses small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules that can be programmed to identify the tumor cells, mark them and eventually destruct only those cells. Most of the devastating side effects due to cancer can be done away with once this therapy becomes the norm in treating cancer. Elsewhere, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, have also made progress in halting the spread of cancer cells. Their findings include senescence, which performs like a fuse by preventing the cells to grow and divide.
Cancer is the result of some cells gone wrong. If the urge in the cell, or the oncogene, can be controlled, then there is hope.