Health Conditions

What is on the horizon?

Researchers are currently studying more than 300 new drugs for treating or preventing cancer and thousands of trials are ongoing that involve other cancer related issues. Moreover, several drugs that are used today for other health conditions are currently being studied for their potential role in the prevention and treatment of certain cancers.

In addition to new drugs, the following therapies are under study:

• Gene therapy - an area of interest to many researchers. The idea here would be to replace the defective genes in cancer cells with normal, healthy genes, thereby correcting the cells' overactive replication problem. The challenge is finding a way to get the healthy genes into the cancer cells.

• Cancer vaccines - to treat existing cancers by teaching the body's immune system to target and destroy cancer cells.

• Antiangiogenic therapy - Angiogenesis is the rapid formation of new capillaries for transporting blood to the tissues. Under normal circumstances, this process is rare and lasts only a short time. Tumors have been known to stimulate angiogenesis when they spread into tissues other than the ones where they originated. By preventing the formation of new capillaries, scientists hope to deprive the tumor of its blood supply, and therefore, its ability to spread.

• Laser therapy- Lasers are small beams of concentrated light. They are currently being used for the treatment of small cancers on the skin. Lasers can be used alone or in combination with other treatments. Advances in this technology may lead to further uses.