Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Published : February 3, 2020 3:53 PM IST
There has been remarkable progress in cancer research in the last decade.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. It results from abnormal growth of cells anywhere in a body. There rae more than 200 types of cancer. Common types of cancer include breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, colon cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and melanoma. Among these, most cancer deaths are caused by lung, breast, colorectal, stomach and liver cancers.
As the number of cancer cases rises, scientists all over the world are working hard to beat the disease. There has been remarkable progress in cancer research in the last decade. Every year, scientists make new breakthroughs in cancer research and treatments, improving the standard of care for cancer patients. Below are five recent breakthroughs in cancer treatments.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved this new tool in fighting lung cancer in May 2019. It uses a combination of robotics, software, data science and endoscope innovation. The tool helps diagnose lung cancer at an early stage with more accuracy and a lower risk of complications.
Personalized medicine, popularly known as precision medicine, is likely to play a great role in cancer treatment. This is a new approach in cancer treatment, where the doctors first identify the genetic changes in a patient's tumour to determine the most appropriate treatments.
Scientists have also made a few advances in the treatment of rare cancers. Many of these new treatments are based on targeted therapies. An example is the combination of 2 targeted therapies, dabrafenib (Tafinlar), a BRAF inhibitor, and trametinib (Mekinist), a MEK inhibitor, to treat anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Researchers are also exploring use of DNA-based liquid biopsies. These tests involve analysing a patient's blood for types of tumour material such as mutated DNA, RNA or proteins. A liquid biopsy may help find cancer at an early stage.
Sorafenib is a type of targeted therapy currently used to treat liver, thyroid, and kidney cancer. A study published last year revealed using sorafenib (Nexavar) to treat desmoid tumours. Most of the participants who took sorafenib had their disease stopped for more than 1 year.
