Chemotherapy, one of the harshest medical treatments available, has been used for years to treat cancer patients and ultimately significantly reduce tumor size. Although this treatment is very beneficial to cancer patients, it also makes them become weak, lose their hair, nausea and supress the immune system through killing uninfected cells in the body. With Chemotherapy being such a harsh treatment with many side effects, many patients often die from the treatment. With Chemotherapy advancements being one of the most highly funded research subjects, cancer researchers have developed a “smart bomb” treatment that will keep more good cells alive and help treat the side effects of the Chemotherapy. While reducing the toxic impact of the therapy on the body, cancer patients will be able to live more normal lives because of this “smart bomb” technology.
With cancer being one of the main causes of death around the world, treatments for this disease are important because of the large impact it has over the population. With cancer effecting millions of elderly and children for years on end, treatments such as the “smart bomb” are very important. Although a cure for cancer is something that has not been found, finding advanced ways to treat the disease are just as important. This article explains that the original Chemotherapy medicine, Colchicine, was modified to target only the tissue that was producing cancer cells. With changing some of the amino acid sequences within the drug, targeting was able to be more effective. With this new cancer treatment entering phase 1 of testing in the next 18 months, it could potentially still be years before it hits the market for people to start using it. This cancer breakthrough has the potential to give millions of cancer patients the hope and healing they need in order to live a happier, more healthy life.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/12/cancer-drugs-fewer-side-effects
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