A cure for cancer?

Although the cure for cancer appears to be impossible, prevention still exists. Instead of a

‘cure’ what most doctors aim for, and most cancer patients hope to hear is the word

remission. Remission is the absence or decrease in cancer cells over the course of one

month. Despite remission being a major achievement, the recurrence of cancer remains a

threat.

The three pillars of treatment options have been surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation

therapy since the 1900s. In recent years a fourth pillar has been discovered,

immunotherapy. Immunotherapy takes advantage of a human’s own immune system to kill

cancerous cells in the body, thus is arguably a better option, as, unlike chemotherapy, it

usually does not lead to the death of both cancerous and ‘normal’ cells. The synergy of the two pillars may also prove to be more effective in treating cancer. The different types of

immunotherapies include T-cell therapies and the most common, naked monoclonal

antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies attach to the antigens on cancer cells, triggering an

immune response while also blocking cell growth. T-cells or T- lymphocytes, present in all

humans, develop from stem cells in the bone marrow and are essential in destroying cancer

cells and preventing them from spreading. In a laboratory, a specific protein, chimeric

antigen receptor (CAR), is added to these cells after extraction from the blood. This enables

the T-cells to recognize cancer cells when put back in the body. This is especially effective in

the treatment of blood cancers, like acute lymphoblastic leukemia and multiple myeloma

in younger patients.

Even with its effectiveness, T-cell therapy has harmful side effects such

as high fever, severe nausea as well as neurological problems of delirium and seizures.

Ongoing research in CAR T-cell therapy intends on finding ways to prevent such side effects,

to make treatment options much safer. Thus, although the future is uncertain, scientists and

the cancer community continue to be optimistic about cancer research and discoveries like

targeted therapy, that in the coming years could radically alter the oncology paradigm.