Here's an ASCO summary of new cancer treatments:
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NOVEL APPROACHES TO FIGHTING CANCER
New Tumor-Targeting Methods
Show Promise as Next Generation Cancer Arsenal
Los Angeles, CA -- May 18 -The results of six studies examining novel cancer-fighting approaches designed to target cancer cells while potentially leaving healthy cells intact will be discussed today at a press conference entitled "New Directions in Cancer Treatment" at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. These next-generation treatments include early human trials of monoclonal antibodies, anti-angiogenesis agents, cancer vaccines, antisense therapy and gene therapy.
"Our investment in cancer research is clearly paying off with a host of exciting new approaches to treating the disease," said Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center and moderator of the press conference. "Efforts over the last 15 years to understand the biology of cancer - the cellular, molecular and genetic basis for the disease - are now making their way from the laboratory to the bedside."
These novel therapies, which could soon be used with standard chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, may eventually emerge as primary treatments for cancer.
The primary categories of biotherapeutic cancer treatments include:
Monoclonal antibodies: Monoclonal antibodies are designed to fill a critical gap in the body's immune system. While the human body naturally produces antibodies to identify and fight off infections such as viruses and bacteria, cancer is allowed to spread because the immune system does not recognize cancer cells as harmful. Monoclonal antibodies are being developed to supplement the body's immune system, by recognizing and attacking specific proteins expressed by cancer cells. This therapy shows promise both as a single agent, and, more promising, when attached to a toxin or radioactive agent that serves as the weapon that actually kills the cancer cells.
Anti-angiogenesis agents: Tumor growth beyond the size of a pinpoint is dependent on the formation of new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. Some of the first human trials of anti-angiogenesis agents are demonstrating the potential to inhibit new blood vessel formation, and thus starve tumors of the blood supply they need to grow and spread.
Cancer vaccines: Unlike vaccines that are used to prevent infectious diseases, cancer vaccines are therapeutic, stimulating the body's own immune system to recognize and attack already existing cancer cells.
Antisense therapy: Antisense therapy works at the genetic level to stop the process by which cancer-causing proteins are produced by cancerous cells. By introducing strands of RNA (antisense) engineered to match and bind to the replicating DNA (sense) of cancer cells, antisense therapy attempts to block cancer cells from reproducing.
Gene therapy: Gene therapy attempts to fix damaged DNA or add new DNA in an attempt to mend faulty genes, or introduce genes that make cancer cells sensitive to drug therapy.
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