Cancer Prevention & Treatment

Cancer Prevention

Anti-viral vaccines, prevent exposure to high toxicity carcinogens, promoting awareness/recommend limited exposure to sun or smoking

High toxicity carcinogens

Asbestos, Dioxins, Toxic metals

Cancer treatments

Surgery, Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy,

Radiotherapy

ionizing radiation that induces apoptosis of cancer cells

Chemotherapy

chemical to kill cancer cells (alkylating agents, antimetabolites, topoisomerase inhibitors, mitotic inhibitors)

alkylating agents

cause DNA damage, reduces DNA replication in cancer cells

Antimetabolites

target DNA building block synthesis

Methotrexate

an antimetabolite chemotherapy drug that inhibits dihydrofolate reductase involved in nucleotide synthesis

Toipoisomerase inhibitors

Target DNA replication and repair

Mitotic inhibitors

Cause cell cycle arrest

Tamoxifen

a receptor targeted therapy being used for breast cancer where there are elevated levels of estrogen receptors (ER+ breast cancer); binds to estrogen receptors and blocks estrogen from binding

Herceptin (Trastuzumab)

A receptor targeted therapy for breast cancers where the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 is over expressed (HER2+ Breast Cancer)

Angiogenesis inhibitors

Bevacizumab(blocks VEGF receptor), Thalidomide

Experimental approaches to Cancer Treatment

targeted delivery, pro-apoptotics based on cell death pathway, telomerase inhibitors, Cancer vaccines, immune system check point inhibitors, CAR-T therapy

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T)

a treatment developed in ~2010 where a patients own T-Cells are genetically modified to recognize and attack cancer cells and then infused back into the patients body to fight cancer (approved for certain blood cancers); very expensive treatments