The Secret Guide To Cancer Research Scientists
Getting cancer is one of the scariest things an individual might have and it doesn't only affect the person diagnosed but also individuals around that individual as well. Cancer is definitely an incredibly deadly disease with several unique types. It's hard to find someone within the current world today who hasn't known one who has or has had cancer. Because of this, millions of dollars are spent on a yearly basis on cancer research to get more information concerning this deadly disease and also to identify new effective treatments and cures for it.
The foundation of such research is to identify the kinds of cancer, diagnose cancer in patients, as well as to find ways to prevent, treat and cure the disease. You will find various ways that cancer is researched. These ways include epidemiology and molecular bioscience, which is then utilized in clinical trials to compare and evaluate the different treatments.
The different kinds of treatments that can be being researched are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, gene therapy, finding vaccines, targeted therapy and ways to boost the immune system. Anti-cancer vaccination research is performed 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 already been successful on rats.
Alternatively, researches of this deadly disease has had its share of issues and is still battling a lot of them. The main issue it faces is funding. A lot of the funding comes from donations, so people and different organizations have to go out and acquire funding from the general public. Stem cell research has also stirred up a great deal of controversy basically halting any current testing in this field. Another controversial topic with cancer research is the clinical trials and the usage of animals and human beings.
As stated earlier, funding is one of the most significant parts of keeping such researches alive. There are numerous organizations around that will be 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 really is just a short list of some of the organizations, but rest assured that there are a variety more available.
Many volunteers world-wide commit themselves to raising funds for cancer research and cancer charities. Many tens 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 are already regular breakthroughs in our understanding 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, despite the fact that 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 in such things. Cancer research is high profile activity and every now and after that a scientific treatment methods 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 part of the problem of how we see cancer. Early discoveries set up an expectation that there was a cure-all treatment, a 'magic bullet' that might make its discoverer famous by curing cancer across the world. The idea stems in part from aspirin, the original bullet that magically finds its way to the anguish and diminishes it.
In the 1950's and 60's huge and expensive research projects were set up to test every known substance to view if it effected cancer cells. You might remember the discovery of the Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharansus Roseus), which revealed alkaloids (vinblastine and vincristine) which are still used in chemotherapy today. Taxol, a remedy for ovarian and breast cancer originally came from the Pacific Yew tree. A therapy 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 treating future cancer research, around half of that have been shown to have some effect upon cancer cells in a test tube.
When these plants are made into synthetic drugs, single chemicals are isolated as well as the rest of the plant is generally thrown away. The medicinally active molecules are extracted from the plant and modified until they can be chemically unique. Then the compound is patented, given a brand name and tested.
Within the first phase it's going to generally be tested on animals, the second 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 perhaps 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 has to be recouped from the consumer.
Along with 'treatment directed' research for example finding chemicals that effect cancer cells, basic research continues apace, into differences between normal and cancerous cells. In the last 30 years this studies have revealed much about our nature, but still no cure. Below 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 depends on interacting cycles geared to acts of perception, breathing, reproduction and renewal. Chronobiology analyses these cycles in relation to different times, for example day and night. Hormones, including stress and growth hormones, have their own cycles. For example they can be at their highest activity in the morning and quieter at night. Cancer cells appear 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 often times it may multiply. Some cancer cells escape this control and may boost the number 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 vessels 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 into a flatter arrangement. When you will find clumps of cells they appear to possess a quality that resists treatment. This strand of research looks at ways that can stop the cells clumping together, by dissolving the clumps for more effective treatment.
