Innovative drugs that drive tumors in programmed cell death to combat cancer in a targeted from the inside. And also from the outside, there are new ways to destroy advanced tumors quickly and with few side-effects. A Report on the latest Successes of cancer medicine.
Still cancer therapies are often associated with severe side effects and still help only a little. Especially when there are already metastases of the original cancer so already metastases in other parts of the body has formed areas, the treatment is difficult and often futile. However, there are several new research approaches that may work better, but gentler, with fewer side effects than previous cancer treatments.
This is very exciting and promising are these new methods in the fight against cancer.
1. HDAC inhibitors to drive cancer in the programmed cell death
A new group of drugs, called HDAC inhibitors, act only in cancer cells, not healthy cells. HDAC is the abbreviation for histone Deacetyl. This is certain enzymes that are regulated, especially in cancer cells to fail. Important for the treatment of cancer HDAC1 and HDAC2 are including.
Inhibitors, i.e. inhibitors that are directed against these enzymes, interfere with the cell cycle of the cancer cell, to inhibit or stop it altogether. The cancer cells can no longer reproduce and are driven in the best case, in the programmed cell death (apoptosis). With HDAC inhibitors, the was achieved, for example in colorectal cancer cells.
In colorectal cancer, but also in many other tumors such as pancreatic cancer, is, in fact, interfered with the function of HDAC2. One of the consequences is that a certain Protein (p53), which is often referred to as the “guardian of the genome”, is active. Affected cells degenerate so fast. So many of the tumor can’t survive cells because p53 is functional. A HDCA2 Inhibitor can restore the guardian function of p53.
These relationships were able to demonstrate to researchers at the University of Mainz under the leadership of Oliver H. Krämer, and in different fields publish in journals. Krämer says about the HDAC inhibitors: “you open up whole new treatment options by enabling the body, malignant cells can be selectively targeted to kill and at the same time healthy tissue – and thus the quality of life of cancer patients – to receive.”
2. The extremely expensive immune therapy with CAR-T is cheaper
The immune system in a targeted dressing, that it destroys cancer cells, but healthy cells protects is the target of a new group of treatment methods, only in the past few years, well-known immune therapy against cancer. FOCUS Online reported on it regularly.
A particularly successful method among the various Onkoimmuntherapien: treatment with CAR-T-cells. They consist of the artificially produced molecule, CAR (chimeric antigen receptor, Chimärische Antigen Receptor T-cells), which contains up to four natural proteins and immune cells from the type T of the patient is used. Propagated in the laboratory, the Patient receives the CAR-T-cells.
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The immune cells are programmed, so to speak, and have the special feature to detect cancer cells that had previously escaped the Radar of the immune system. CAR-T-cells detect these cells and destroy them. In Germany, this treatment was Recently approved for certain forms of leukemia.
However, the therapy is cost-intensive. It is in the six digit range and is considered to be the most expensive cancer therapy. Researchers from the Imperial College London under the direction of Anastasios Karadimitris, it is now managed special CAR-cells in larger quantities, which could not only in one but many patients.
Comparable to that with cheaper clothing from the rod, instead of an expensive tailor-made suit. Accordingly, these “Supercharge”immune cells, which were manufactured in mass production, manufacturing costs are significantly reduced.
3. Laser against previously inoperable cancer
In addition to these medication new cancer therapies that work from the inside, there is also a very successful new approach that attacks the cancer from the outside, and in just a single session: the photodynamic therapy with the Laser against a cancer that no longer responds to chemotherapy treatment, such as gallbladder, lung, esophagus, and liver.
For the first time in Germany, Doctors in the Robert-Bosch-hospital in Stuttgart, the Laser treatment for a bile duct tumor (cholangiocarcinoma). This form of cancer is particularly insidious, because it takes a long time to no symptoms. If symptoms such as yellow coloring of the skin occur, is advanced, the cancer is often far and hardly treatable, as in the case of the Stuttgart-based patient. Jörg G. Albert, chief physician of the Department for gastroenterology, Hepatology, and endocrinology, and his Team applied to the patient first, a Photosensitizer in the vein. The substance that makes the cells extremely sensitive to light. Endoscopically, the Doctors then performed laser light in a low wavelength in the affected bile duct. The Tumor was irradiated accurately, he burned and died.
After the treatment, the patient had to spend two weeks in darkened rooms. Because the skin cells by the Photosensitizer sensitive to light and would be burned. Meanwhile, this effect is abated, and the patient may behave as usual. Jörg G. Albert: “photodynamic therapy is much gentler than chemotherapy, which destroys healthy cells.” You could get the quality of life of the patients, respectively, significantly improve and prolong your life.“