2 WAYS WE CAN CRUSH CANCER
1. PERSONALISED TARGETED THERAPY
Principle: Determine the genetic sequence of each patient’s tumour and customise the treatment accordingly.What’s at work: Using emerging technology (say, computational biology, predictive genomics, imaging pads), mutating genes are identified and zapped with drugs tailored specifically for that genomic sequence. n What it treats now: Glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer.
The future: Avoiding the slash-and-burn strategy of most current cancer treatments could mean fewer side effects and better outcomes and maybe even a cure.
2. PREVENTION
Principle: It’s not new, but the message still isn’t getting through. Breaking bad habits like unhealthy eating, smoking and being sedentary prevents more than 80% of cancers.What’s at work: Quitting smoking, reducing stress, avoiding trans fats, exercising safe sex and losing weight help keep your immune system strong.
What it treats now: Nearly all cancers, including lung, breast, cervical, colon, skin and endometrial, says Lorenzo Cohen PhD, professor and director of the Integrative Medicine programme at MD Anderson.
The future: "If we can encourage people to eat properly, to exercise and to quit smoking, then cancer becomes a rare disease," she says. Imagine that.
Mary Bolster
(Prevention India Magazine)