C ancer T herapies : A B ane and a B oon Sushrita Neogi One primary type of cancer therapy radiation therapy. It is the use of any sort of radiation, which can be photons such as UV and X-rays or particles such as protons, neutrons, α-particles, or electrons, to target cancer cells and produce ionization in important biological molecules. The principle target of this ionizing radiation is often DNA. Ionization of DNA can cause single strand and double strand breaks in the molecule. In the targeted cancer cells, single strand breaks can often be mended by repair proteins, but double strand breaks are usually lethal events for the cancerous cells. If radiation is provided in overly large quantities, these double strand breaks can become carcinogenic and cause normal cells to transform in tumor cells. However, when proper dosage is applied, the double strand breaks caused by the radiation cause an arrest in the further growth of the tumor (He, 2011). In Radiation Treatment for Benign Disease, Meyer (2001) Because of the tremendous positive benefits, radiation therapy is used on a vast majority of tumors, even benign ones. maintains that radiation therapy has “better response or final cosmesis than with other modes of treatment” despite negative side effects (p.12). Because of the tremendous positive benefits, radiation therapy is used on a vast majority of tumors, even benign ones. It is also often used in conjunction with other cancer therapies Chemotherapy can also be used to indirectly treat individuals with cancer as a palliative therapy to keep the cancer from growing or in order to keep remission, or relapse of a cancer that had been previously cured, in check. Recent developments in radiation therapy have made the treatment more specialized by targeting it specifically using the patient’s molecular gene expression, allowing the dose and type of radiation used to be tailored specifically to the patient, maximizing the benefits while minimizing many risks (Polgar, Major, & Fodor, 2012). Chemotherapy is similar to radiotherapy in that it primarily causes lethal damage to the DNA in cells using toxic chemicals, which can lead to the death of both cancerous and normal human cells (He, 2011). However, cancer cells are more rapidly dividing and thus have more quantities of DNA. Therefore they have a much greater likelihood of being affected by the chemotherapy. Outside of being used as a direct treatment of cancer by killing overly proliferating cells, chemotherapy can also be used to indirectly treat individuals with cancer as a palliative therapy. Palliation means to relieve the pain of a condition without curing the underlying problem. Thus chemotherapy may reduce the size of a tumor to make it more manageable and decrease its effects even if it is not actually able to cure the cancer itself. Palliation is often used for patients who have incurable metastatic or recurring head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) (Pensak, 2001). Chemotherapy is also often used in conjunction with the other two cancer treatments, radiation and surgical removal. Inductive chemotherapy can be given before surgery to decrease the tumor bulk, which makes B erkeley S cientific J ournal • S ave or D estroy • S pring 2012 • V olume 16 • I ssue 2 • 1 B S J The modern methods of treating cancer can be quite primitive – destroying the body at the cellular, physiological, and psychological levels, even while saving lives. Three of the most common cancer treatments used are radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgical removal of cancerous tissue and tumors. These treatments represent the forefront of medical practices and they can certainly be very effective and can often mean the difference between life and death for many cancer patients. However, one must also understand the vast amount and various types of side effects and damage that these treatments can cause.
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Jun 1, 2013
L.M Lopez + 5
Open Access