And
then there were five
Doctors are trying—with some success—
to recruit the
immune system to help with the war on cancer
THERE are, broadly speaking, four
ways to fight cancer. You can cut a tumour out, with surgery. Or you can try one
of three different ways of killing it. Radiotherapy targets tumours with
radiation. Chemotherapy uses chemicals that poison all rapidly dividing cells,
cancerous ones included. “Targeted therapies”, as their name suggests,
recognise particular features specific to cancer cells.
Singly and in combination, these
four types of treatment have contributed to a steady increase in the survival
rates for most kinds of cancer. Now they may be joined by a fifth. At this
year’s meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), in Chicago,
the assembled researchers heard about the latest progress in “immuno-oncology”.
Modern medicine provides every
reason to think that the immune system—which, after all, is there to keep the
rest of the body safe—can and does attack cancers. People whose immune systems
have been weakened, either by disease or by medicines designed to help them
tolerate organ transplants, run a greater risk of malignancies. Many risk factors
for cancer, such as a bad diet, heavy drinking, stress and smoking are known
also to affect the immune system. Exercise, thanks to the boost it gives the
body’s defences, can improve cancer survival rates.
To read the complete report, click The Economist.
No comments:
Post a Comment