Controlling cancer
rather than killing it could be the best way to fight the disease, according to
scientists
|
|
Chemotherapy should be
kept to a minimum to avoid unstoppable cancer cells developing
Managing cancer with
low doses of chemotherapy could be more effective than attempting to kill the
disease, scientists believe.
The controversial
approach suggests that cancer patients may have a better chance of survival
if they live with their illness long term.
"The potential to reduce gruelling
side-effects of chemotherapy, while increasing the treatment's effectiveness,
could dramatically improve the lives of people with breast cancer"
Rachel Rawson, Breast Cancer Care
Current cancer
treatments often involve aggressive treatment with high doses chemotherapy in
an attempt to wipe out as many tumour cells as possible.
But complete
eradication of canceris rare, and the toxic side effects of chemotherapy
can be highly destructive - not only leading to hair loss, nausea and extreme
fatigue, but also crippling the body's immune system or triggering anaemia.
Some experts believe
high-dose chemotherapy may actually worsen cancer by exerting a natural
selection pressure that helps drug-resistant tumour cells to become more
abundant which means if cancer returns it will be fatal.
The new strategy is
designed to prevent drug-resistant tumour cells getting a handle.
Rather than trying to eradicate a tumour, the treatment stabilises it by
deliberately allowing a small population of drug-sensitive tumour cells to
survive.
A team of US
scientists led by Dr Robert Gatenby, from the H Lee Moffitt Cancer Centre and
Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, conducted tests using the chemotherapy
drug paclitaxel to treat mice with two different kinds of breast cancer.
Standard chemotherapy
initially shrank the mouse tumours, but as soon as the treatment stopped they
grew back. However giving an initial high dose followed be regular lower doses
controlled cancer growth.
In fact the treatment
was so effective that the majority of the mice were weaned off the drug
completely over an extended period of time without suffering relapses.
Writing in the journal
Science Translational Medicine, Dr Gatenby said: "Our results suggest that
this adaptive therapeutic strategy can be adapted to clinical imaging and can
result in prolonged progression-free survival in breast cancer.
"Finally,
we note that the evolutionary principles that govern AT may be applicable to a
wide range of breast cancer treatments including hormonal manipulation and
immunotherapy, although they will need to undergo further testing in those
settings."
Rachel
Rawson, senior clinical nurse specialist from the charity Breast Cancer Care,
said the proposed treatment was ‘an exciting avenue to explore.’
"The
potential to reduce gruelling side-effects of chemotherapy, while increasing
the treatment's effectiveness, could dramatically improve the lives of people
with breast cancer. This is an exciting avenue to explore,” she added.
"Chemotherapy
can mean women live with debilitating sickness, fatigue and extremely
distressing hair loss for many months, making every day a challenge.
"However
there remains a long road from this study on mice to any potential changes in
clinical practice. And we want to reassure anyone concerned, the treatment
currently out there has been successfully trialled on thousands of patients."
BY NUMBERS
Cancer in the UK
10,000
Number of lives which could be saved with earlier diagnosis
331,500
Number of people diagnosed with cancer each year
161,800
Annual deaths from cancer
50%
Chance of living at least 10 years after cancer diagnosis
41%
Percentage of cancer cases which are preventable
Credit: Daily Telegraph
No comments:
Post a Comment