Cancer is one of the leading cause of death worldwide. It is caused through abnormal growth of cells anywhere in a body. Some common types of cancer include breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, colon cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and melanoma. Among these, the deadly ones are caused by lung, breast, colorectal, stomach and liver cancers.
The number of cancer cases has been on rising recently, scientists all over the world are working hard to stop the disease from spreading. There has been remarkable progress in cancer research in the last decade. Every year, scientists make new breakthroughs in cancer research and treatments, improving the standard of care for cancer patients.
World Cancer Day 2020: Top leading breakthroughs in cancer treatment
Some of the recent breakthroughs in cancer treatment are as follows:
The Auris Monarch Robotic Platform
U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved this new tool in fighting lung cancer in May 2019. It uses high-end tech of robotics, software, data science and endoscope innovation. The tool specifically tries to diagnose lung cancer at an early stage with more accuracy and a lower risk of complications.
Precision Medicine
Personalized medicine or popularly known as precision medicine, is a new approach in curing cancer, where the doctors first identify the genetic changes in a patient’s tumour to determine the appropriate treatments that can be performed.
Combination Of Targeted Therapies
Scientists have made some advances in carrying out specific target therapies. An example is the combination of 2 targeted therapies, dabrafenib (Tafinlar), a BRAF inhibitor, and trametinib (Mekinist), a MEK inhibitor, to treat anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Liquid Biopsies
Researchers in today’s day and age is exploring the use of DNA-based liquid biopsies. The Liquid biopsy tests involve analysing a patient’s blood for types of tumour material such as mutated DNA, RNA or proteins. A liquid biopsy can find cancer at an early stage.
Sorafenib for Desmoid Tumors
Sorafenib is another type of targeted therapy currently used to treat liver, thyroid, and kidney cancer. A study published last year revealed using sorafenib (Nexavar) to treat desmoid tumours.
Most of the participants who took sorafenib had their disease stopped for more than 1 year.
