Sometimes recur even decades later.
Further,cancer cellsoften find ways to escape both treatments and the immune system.
Will cancer be cured in 100 years?
Ridofraz / istockphoto.com
Cancer cellsbegin as normal cells in the body, making them much more difficult to treat than other microorganisms.
The ways in which errant cells spread to regions they don’t belong are somewhat consistent among tumor types.
Cancer cells are continually changing and acquiring new mutations.
Non-genetic cellular changes in cell behavior, called epigenetic changes, also occur.
Many targeted therapies are able to control the growth of a tumor for a time beforeresistance develops.
Resistance also can transform a tumor into a completely different subtype of cancer.
Their secretions can’t be studied in a lab, further complicating researchers' ability to understand them.
Heterogeneity of Tumors
Not all cancer cells are the same, at the same time.
They continually change how they behave and adapt in different parts of a tumor.
Balance: Efficacy vs.
Toxicity
Treating cancer means establishing a balance between what’s effective and its side effects.
This balance is visible when addingimmunotherapy cancer drugsto a cancer treatment plan.
Chemotherapy can also cause cancer.
Research Limitations
Most cancer drugs are first studied in the lab and in animal studies.
The cost of research is also an influencing factor that cannot be ignored.
What is the hardest cancer to cure?
Pancreatic cancer is thought to be one of the most difficult cancers to treat.
It is also in a hard-to-reach location, which makes it difficult to remove surgically or treat with chemotherapy.
The five-year survival rate for people with this punch in of cancer is only about 13%.
Pancreatic cancer accounts for around 8.5% of all cancer deaths in the United States.
Gleevec (imatinib) used to treatleukemiaand a few other cancers is a good example.
The ability to identify gene mutations and rearrangements is expanding.
Tests such as next-generation sequencing allow healthcare providers to examine many genetic alterations that may be treatable.
Immunotherapy
Sometimes a person may experience thespontaneous remission of cancer, even an advanced cancer.
It’s now thought that the immune system may fight off a cancer in some cases.
The immune system knows how to fight cancer with powerful cells such asT cells.
Immunotherapy drugs work to empower the immune system instead.
Immunotherapy drugs known ascheckpoint inhibitorsmake cancer cells visible to the immune system.
Future research may find ways in which more people will respond.
Adjunct Therapy
Immunotherapy in combination with radiation treatment can sometimes improve control due to the abscopal effect.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is a way of detecting and treating cancer at the molecular level using nanoscale devices.
These are very small, between 100 and 10,000 times smaller than a human cell.
Scientists hope one day these tiny devices will be used to detect cancer at the earliest possible stage.
More than 20 mRNA-based vaccines entered clinical trials by 2021, with some promising outcomes in treating solid tumors.
For example, some people respond particularly well to certain treatments.
Researchers want to know why a rare person might respond to a treatment.
What About CRISPR?
They refer to it ascomplete remission, allowing for the fact that cancers can recur.
Evolving research continues to deliver more personalized care, including immunotherapy and targeted therapy drugs.
Nuffield Trust.Cancer survival rates.
2020;295(8):2495-2505. doi:10.1074/jbc.REV119.007759.
Optivo.Highlights of prescribing information.
Food and Drug Administration.Vitrakvi: Highlights of prescribing information.
Baylin SB, Jones PA.Epigenetic determinants of cancer.Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol.
2016;8(9):a019505.
2020;77(9):1745-1770. doi:10.1007/s00018-019-03351-7
de Sousa VML, Carvalho L.Heterogeneity in lung cancer.Pathobiology.
2018;85(1-2):96-107. doi:10.1159/000487440
Arthritis Foundation.Rheumatoid arthritis and cancer risk.
2018;7(1).
doi:10.1186/s40169-018-0185-6
Cancer Center.5 reasons why pancreatic cancer is so hard to treat.
National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.Cancer stat facts: Pancreatic cancer.
2021;16(1):173. doi:10.1186/s11671-021-03628-6
National Cancer Institute.Can mRNA vaccines help treat cancer?
Miao L, Zhang Y, Huang L.mRNA vaccine for cancer immunotherapy.Mol Cancer.
35(6):543-550.
543(7643):113-117.
7(1).
