3 ways to win against cancer
Cancer research is big. Scientists are always looking for new ways to find a cure for cancer or new preventative methods. But HOW exactly do you go about finding a cure, or how do you go about prevention? Where do you begin? This blog post offers guidelines about where you can begin if you want to partake in cancer research yourself!
1. Fully understand the nature of malignant cells
Getting closer to understanding the enemy, is the first step in deviating a plan to take the enemy down. We must know every weakness and strength, in order to benefit on the weaknesses and weaken the strengths.
Scientists today are in the process of mapping the genome of cancer cells, to ascertain how and why some genetic information leads to the proliferation of cancer cells [1]. They are particular interested in replication regulatory pathways, which are involved in assuring the replication of genetic information of cancerous cells.
By having this knowledge, they can become increasingly aware of how to inhibit/modify these pathways to kill cancer cells.
 |
| Cancer cells dividing by mitosis. |
2. Look to nature for help
Nature always has the answer. Instead of creating more artificial methods to cure cancer, (.i.e. methods which involve chemicals, such as chemotherapy) it would be much more sustainable and efficient to invest time in aspects of nature which are already equipped with tools to modify genetic information and kill cells, such as viruses.
Viruses are so good at destroying cells, as they are able to use the cells devices to apply their own genetic information which leads to further manifestation of them and their proteins.
When the cell is full of viruses and viral information, a series of changes can lead to apoptosis (programmed cell death), but more commonly, viral proteins are presented on the surface of the cell, and as a result of this killer T cells, induce apoptosis for the infected cell, which then leads to the expulsion of many viruses into the surrounding tissue fluid. These viruses are then free to infect further cells.
However, they're not so bad, and they can actually be our ally in this lengthy battle Telomerase-specific virotherapy is a new branch of research related to curing cancer [2]. Telomerase is an enzyme which lengthens telomeres, which are essentially "shoelace like caps", situated at the periphery of chromosomes which prevent rapid degradation of genetic information wound up in chromosomes. Cancer cells, have been found to have high amounts of telomerase, which is said to account for their "immortality".
A virus called OBP-301 has been developed, which kills bone and soft tissue carcinomas based on the abundance of telomerase. However the virus is yet to be developed further, as there are questions about it's specificity.
Oncolytic virotherapy is definitely a budding area of cancer research.
 |
| Results with OBP-301 shows reduced tumour size in mice. |
"Spermbots" are also an option [3]! Sperm are equipped with specialised flagellum which propel them to their destination, so they are perfect for reaching a specific place in a short period of time. They are essentially biological delivery men! Researches at the Institute for Integrative Nano-science in Germany, are experimenting with modifying sperm, to perhaps deliver medicines to cells! It is thought that it would also be very useful for cancer research.
Please see the YouTube video below, to view Spermbots in action!
3. Investigate environmental influences
Prevention is a way to keep cancer under wraps, and seeing as cancer is thought to be on the rise according to the world health organisation (WHO); it is easy to conclude that environmental factors maybe a big influence on the incidences of cancer. By investigating these environmental influences, it is increasingly easier to pinpoint a factor which needs to be reduced, or increased. For example it has already been proposed that tobacco consumption, leads to higher incidences of lung cancer- whereby 100 million people are thought to have died as a result-, and in sight of this environmental factor, measures have been put into place to reduce tobacco consumption [4].
Other factors such as diet might play a key role in incidents of cancer. The "Mediterranean diet" is said to aid the prevention of cancer due to the healthier food choices making up a large part of the diet [5].
 |
Awesome!
|
Is it really this simple? Well no...I personally think we need to spend a lot more time on number 1 before we consider other ways! Like a soldier preparing for battle, he needs to be aware with what he's facing in order to create a perfect strategy to win the fight!
Do you have any other guidelines which we could work with to come up with a cure or preventative method for cancer? Mention them in the comments below! Or....keep them to yourself, who knows...that one idea you have might be a breakthrough!
Thanks for reading!
Do you have any other guidelines which we could work with to come up with a cure or preventative method for cancer? Mention them in the comments below! Or....keep them to yourself, who knows...that one idea you have might be a breakthrough!
Thanks for reading!
Sources
1)http://home.ccr.cancer.gov/inthejournals/mirit.asp
2)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21325287
3)http://theweek.com/article/index/254132/how-sperm-could-one-day-cure-cancer
4)http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr27/en/
5)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22644232
No comments:
Post a Comment