X-Ray Tech Schools

Targeted Therapeutics and the Fight Against Cancer

It’s hard to figure out what the worst part of cancer is – the onset of the disease itself or the treatment that is as bad and painful as the disease itself. The thing about cancer is that it’s a killer in more ways than one – if you don’t diagnose it early enough, you’re going to die because the disease has spread to most parts of your body; and if you do detect it at a stage that allows you to consider and pursue treatment, the chemotherapy or alternative treatment is so painful that you feel like calling it quits.

The advent of biotechnology and targeted therapeutics has ushered in a wave of relief for cancer patients and their families because this method of smart drug delivery allows medicines to reach the exact sites in the body where they are most needed, at the right time and in the right dosage. The worst part about chemotherapy, besides the pain, is that it destroys your healthy cells too, a side effect that makes you weak and drains you of your strength. With nanotechnology and targeted therapeutics, there is no danger of this happening, and this means that the drug is delivered only to the cancerous growth and does not affect the adjacent healthy cells.

The new technology allows a high concentration of anti-cancer drugs to be rolled into a tiny particle which is then sent into the body in order to attack cancer cells. It allows the effective treatment of cancers of the breast, ovaries, colon and lungs and prevents side effects like nausea, lethargy and hair loss. The mini cells are around one-fifth the size of regular cells and are created from the cells of bacteria that are deprived of their reproductive powers. The cells are drawn to the cancerous growth in the body because they are tagged with antibodies. They allow the cancerous tissue to be treated with just a small amount of the drug, and because the drug is released into the malignant growth, there are no side effects.

This innovation could pave the way for tailor-made treatments for patients with cancer, a move that will spell relief for those affected by cancer and their families.