New Research in Cancer Treatment
- Genetically engineered bacteria and viruses
Some new promising research uses genetically engineered bacteria and viruses to infect and destroy cancer cells. This could be useful when cancer is already advanced and there are large masses of cancer cells. The potential drawback of these methods is the generation of large amounts of toxins from dying cancer cells, which in turn can suppress the immune system or even kill the patient. Also bacteria and viruses very often mutate which in turn can lead to infection and attack on healthy, non-cancerous cells.
- Anti-cancer vaccines
Anti-cancer vaccines or even custom-made anti-cancer vaccines for a particular patient and cancer type are also a very promising line of research. By providing fragments of cancer cells to the immune system, one can potentially get the immune system response to destroy live cancer cells.
- Cancer markers
Another promising line of research is related to chemical substances which could be used to mark cancer cells. This in turn will allow easier recognition of these cells by the immune system.
- Cancer growth retarders / inhibitors
This line of research is related to the use of chemical substances which could retard / inhibit the growth of cancer cells. An interesting research topics are the substances blocking activity of telomerase, the enzyme responsible for the management/elongation of telomeres. Telomerase is found in high concentrations in 80% of tumors and allows tumor cells to gain "immortality" by removing restrictions on the number of cell divisions. This enzyme may also be useful in extending the lifespan of healthy cells and in turn extend the lifespan of the organism (cancer cells and their growth may hold much valuable information about fountain of youth and immortality).
All the above mentioned methods show some promise. However these methods by themselves do not provide reliable cancer treatment. It is possible that some of them in conjunction with the non-traditional treatment of cancer (listed below) will become the standard cancer treatment, in the 21st or 22nd century.
