Emily Chan
Most of us know someone — a family member, friend, acquaintance, or coworker — who has faced the formidable foe of cancer. Cancer is a word that evokes fear and uncertainty, especially since there is no cure for the disease.
Many people who are treated for cancer still die from it. Cancer is so difficult to cure because there are more than 200 types of it, and every cancer is caused by a different set of mutations.
Cancer cells can also evolve resistance to drugs, which makes them harder to eradicate. Therapies that work for one patient may not work for another. While cancer may be scary, it’s not all about fear. The people who are diagnosed with it also represent courage, strength, resilience, and, most of all, hope.
With advances in medical research and technology, the landscape of cancer is changing. Innovative treatments are being developed for many forms of cancer, making the disease more manageable and improving survival rates.
Scientists from Yale University have discovered a promising new method for killing cancer in a range of tumor types, sparking hope for the future of cancer treatments. It involves sneaking past the cancer’s defenses and delivering the blow via anti-cancer drugs.
When a tumor grows at rapid rates, it can be difficult for cells at the tumor’s core to receive enough oxygen and nutrients. This can cause the tumor to die in a phenomenon known as tumor necrosis.
A dying tumor may sound like a good thing — no more cancer, right? However, research has shown that masses of dying cells from tumors can actually spread throughout the body, a process called cancer metastasis.
As the cell masses die, they release nucleic acids, which are the “building blocks” of DNA. For any living tumor cells, the nucleic acids provide the proper materials to support their growth.
So, many of the nucleic acids end up being drawn back into the tumor. Yale scientists have found a way to use the nucleic acid molecules to deliver anti-cancer drugs straight to the tumor.
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