The Latest Cancer Treatments
Although still in development, the following cancer treatments may make a difference in the future.
Cancer is one of the most important diseases in the world. Its high mortality and resistance to conventional treatments has promoted the appearance of alternative therapies.
Most of these new strategies are still in the development stage but may one day become a reality. Some of the cutting edge cancer treatments are summarized below.
1. Nanorobots against cancer
This technology began to be investigated in 2014. It consists of the development of tiny robots whose main function is to roam the body in search of cancer cells. Once these have been located, the nanorobots administer the drugs they contain inside.
The benefit of this technology is evident since it ensures that only the altered cells receive the treatment, massively reducing the adverse reactions caused by current chemotherapy.
2. Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy used to treat cancer is a fairly modern and still evolving strategy. It can be considered as one of the most cutting edge cancer treatments.
This technique consists of the administration of tumor antigens, which manages to sensitize the organism to face them during the carcinogenic process.
Thus, a response similar to that obtained when a vaccine is injected is achieved, with the difference that this treatment is not preventive but is used in patients who already suffer from the disease.
3. Use of viruses against cancer
Viruses are particles that are not considered living beings because to survive they need to use the cellular machinery of another organism to reproduce.
The so-called oncolytic viruses constitute a novel strategy aimed at the fight against cancer. Through this technique, an attempt is made to modify the viral composition so that they only affect tumor cells. In this way, when the virus enters the tumor cells, it will replicate inside until it is destroyed.
With this therapy a selective destruction of the tumor would be achieved , however this type of treatment is still in the experimentation phase, there is still much to investigate.
4. Use of bacteria against cancer
Like viruses, bacteria can also be used for cancer treatment. This is because its DNA is relatively easy to manipulate. In this way, it is achieved that the bacteria produce certain substances capable of destroying tumor cells, also increasing the efficiency of the immune system.
5. Radioimmunotherapy
Another of the therapies that is currently used against cancer is radiotherapy. And it is that radiation is usually very effective for the elimination of tumor cells.
However, there is a problem with this type of therapy since the same radiation that can destroy the tumor also affects the surrounding healthy tissues, altering them.
Radioimmunotherapy consists of the administration of an antibody against characteristic antigens of the tumor, which will have a radioactive substance attached to it. This fact confers selectivity to the radiation emitted, causing it to only affect cancer cells.
6. Stem cells
The use of stem cells has allowed the development of another perspective on cancer treatment. Stem cells are cells with very specific characteristics since they have a high capacity for division. They can also differentiate later into any type of cell in the body.
What does this mean? Well, they can act as a wild card and, depending on the stimuli applied, transform into cells of the pancreas, the heart or any other organ. The administration of stem cells allows us to achieve high doses of chemotherapy without running the risk of destroying the rest of the cells in the body.
Stem cell transplants are used mainly in patients with leukemias or lymphomas, constituting an indirect route of treatment.
