The landscape of cancer therapy is rapidly changing in the recent years. this witnessed remarkable advancements were made by scientists and medical professionals who worked tirelessly to combat this devastating disease. Those recent treatments include:
- Immunotherapy:
Unlike traditional therapy that target cancer cells, immunotherapy harnesses the immune cells to destroy the carcinogenic cells.one of the most recognizable immunotherapy drug is pembrolizumab (keytroda). It works by blocking PD-1 protein on immune cells, to make them attack cancer cells aggressively .it is used to treat melanoma, lung cancer and bladder cancer.
- Targeted therapy:
It is to use drugs that specifically target the genetic alteration in cancer cells. Example: imatinib (gleevec), which popularly used in treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia, and it works by inhibiting the activity of BCR-ABL protein that is responsible for uncontrolled growth of CML cells.
- PARP Inhibitors:
Those drugs that work by blocking the activity of enzyme called poly ADP ribose polymerase(PARP), Which is involved in DNA repair. By inhibiting PARP cancer cells with BARCA mutations are enable to repair their DNA. Leading to their death. Example: olaparib (lynparza ) which is used to treat ovarian and breast cancers.
- CAR-T cell therapy :
It is extracting T cells from patients blood, which later are genetically engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface.and then those cells are infused back into the patient, to eliminate cancer cells. Example tisagenlecleucel (kymriah), which has shown remarkable success in pediatric acute lymphoplastic leukemia (ALL).
- Checkpoint inhibitors:
As nivolumab (opdivo), which block checkpoints proteins, that regulate immune response, by blocking those proteins you can strengthen the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
Leave a Reply