Is Cancer finally cured?
Cells, the building blocks of life, grow and divide to make new cells. But what happens when this cell division becomes uncontrollable?
These cells form a knot-like mass called “Tumour” which can either be malignant or benign. Cancer- a lethal genetic disease mainly occurs when genes mutate which further affects the ability of cells to grow and divide. Here, the cells grow uncontrollably in a specific part of the human body and eventually spread to other parts, destroying normal body parts. It has been detected that even normal cells modify themselves to form cancerous neoplastic cells with the aid of physical, chemical or biological agents. These agents are collectively called Carcinogens.
The main factors causing cancer are -Age and Habits like smoking and drinking. This disease has become the main cause of death worldwide. Nearly 10 million died in the year 2020 due to cancer. The most common cancers that killed millions were lung, colorectal and liver. This has increased the need of devising new treatments and medications that can make cancer completely disappear or reduce the severity of the fatal disease.
Scientists and researchers are trying to find new potential drugs to tackle cancer but only a small fraction make it to clinical trials. Among these, more than half fail to complete necessary tests. For example, a patient was suffering from metastatic melanoma and was enrolled in a clinical trial testing a BRAF inhibitor. In the initial stage, the patient’s tumour disappeared, but eventually, the patient became resistant to it and the cancer fired back.
As the world tussles with the fatal “C” word, there came the most astounding news of a drug named “DOSTARLIMAB” which removed tumours from 12 patients. Now the question arises did we finally find a ray of hope for the treatment of cancer?
Dostarlimab is a monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of endometrial cancer (cancer starting in the uterus lining) & solid tumours. It chunks the action of specific proteins in cancerous cells. This helps the person to slow down the tumour growth and makes their body immune to fight against the cancer cells. It is mainly used for the treatment of patients (mainly adults) who had unsuccessful chemotherapy medications. This drug also has side effects which are asthenia, nausea, diarrhoea, anaemia & constipation (additional itching, joint pain, fever, rashes, and low thyroid hormone levels). Usually, it comes in a solution form which is intravenously injected into the patient’s body once every 3 weeks for 4 cycles.
The clinical trials for this drug were done in the U.S with 18 patients who were suffering from rectal cancer (cancer that starts in the rectum of the large intestine). They were kept for at least 6 months of follow-up. Nearly after 12 months, it was observed that there were no signs of cancer (tumours had disappeared) in their bodies. Also, these patients never showed any severe side effects. Cells including cancerous cells of the human body have a shelf life. Cancer cells die in some places where immunity is high by a process called programmed cell death. In rectal cancer, this process gets blocked because cells have already undergone metastasis. This drug has such a nature that it acts as immunotherapy and reverses this blocked process. This showed a 100 per cent cure for cancer in patients . This revocation of cancer in all patients paved a path of hope for treating all types of cancer in near future.
This was a breakthrough in the evil world of cancer! While raising awareness about the dreaded disease is essential, the touted life-changing drug is something that needs research and investments or further development in the field to propagate the drug through the ranks of the disease.
This should in theory help to treat, not one, but a wide spectrum of the disease, something if implemented would truly be life-changing.
REFERENCES:
- https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a621030.html
- https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com
- https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-receives-fda-accelerated-approval-for-jemperli-dostarlimab-gxly-for-adult-patients-with-mismatch-repair-deficient-dmmr-recurrent-or-advanced-solid-tumours/
- https://www.cancer.net/research-and-advocacy/introduction-cancer-research/how-are-cancer-drugs-discovered-and-developed
