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How Many Ways to Kill Cancer?

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Prostate Cancer
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Posted 12/29/2013 9:50 AM (GMT 0)
Typically, the prostate cancer therapies I read in articles are:
    1. Cut (surgery)
    2. Poison (chemo)
    3. Burn (radiation)

I know there are other categories. I am listing a few and hope others can comment and add more info. What I'm trying to do is get the big picture and then be able to understand treatments within each category.

A 4th category is Starvation (hormone therapy, glucose deprivation, anti-angiogenesis) where cancer is denied the "nutrients" (hormones, glucose, blood supply) it needs to grow and survive. I used the term starvation for this category, but if there is a more accurate term please list it.

A 5th category is Killer Cells. Very promising new therapy (Provenge). If anyone has info on this, please share.

A 6th category is Gene Based therapy. Need info on this treatment. Seems to be a promising option.

Any other options?

Please add as much info as possible. It would also be helpful to list specific treatments and which categories they fall in. If I get enough info, I will consolidate everything into a new post.

Thx
Posted 12/29/2013 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
I wouldn't refer to radiation as "burning". Radiation works by damaging the genes (DNA) in cells. Genes control how cells grow and divide. When radiation damages the genes of a cancer cell, it can’t grow and divide any more. Over time, the cells die. This means radiation can be used to kill cancer cells.


Radiation can be broken down into:

3A. Traditional
3B. Radio-therapeutic drug - smart bomb that locates and targets tiny sites of cancer spread...such as the recently approved xofigo and the phase 2 CT--- 177Lu-J591

5. More general term, "Immunotherapy" which includes Provenge, Prostvac, Ipillamumab (clinical trials) for PC.

7. All of the above (combination therapies)

Good list...
Posted 12/29/2013 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
These are some ideas about newer cancer treatments in general:

Epigenetic medicines taken before chemo to turn tumor suppressor genes back on
Virus therapies that attack cancer cells
Vaccines to build immunity
MUC1 vaccines
CD47 “don’t eat me” vaccines
T-cell banking , T-cells from stem cells, modified T-cells
Nanotechnology
boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) new kind of radiation
Antibody Drug Conjugates
carboranes
Microwave ablation
Electrochemotherapy
modified glucose therapy
uncloaking cancer to the immune system targets: CD47 , PD-1, PD-L1
arginine blocking medicine ADI-PEG 20

Post Edited (robertC) : 12/29/2013 8:11:38 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/29/2013 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
You can also kill cancer cells by freezing, sound waves or by burning with a laser. Chemo only kills cells when they are in the process of dividing which is great for aggressive cancers that divide quickly, but not very effective for cells like PC which divide very slowly. Treatments also differ in whether the cancer is localized in a few contained spots where you can target removal by surgery or target by radiation. Cancer throughout one's body has to be attacked in a more generalized way through systemic treatments.
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