We use cookies and other tracking technologies to provide services in line with the preferences you reveal while browsing the Website to show personalize content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audience is coming from in order to improve your browsing experience on our Website. By continuing to browse this Website, you consent to the use of these cookies. If you wish to object such processing, please read the instructions described in our Cookie Policy / Privacy Policy.
Interested in blogging for timesofindia.com? We will be happy to have you on board as a blogger, if you have the knack for writing. Just drop in a mail at toiblogs@timesinternet.in with a brief bio and we will get in touch with you.
Dr Sewanti Limaye is the Director of Medical & Precision Oncology, at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital. Dr Limaye, established Precision Oncology clinic – led for the f LESS … MORE
Cancer is a global health challenge that accounts for one-sixth of all annual deaths globally. It’s a difficult-to-understand illness with potentially fatal implications.
Oncology treatments are ever evolving, challenging the concept of onesizefitsall and generalization. Progress in cancer care has brought hope to cancer patients over the last two decades, courtesy to scientists’ and oncologists’ capacity to better comprehend cancer biology and devise treatment plans based on that knowledge. Each person is unique and so is their cancer.
At a basic level, cancer is a disease caused by uncontrolled cell proliferation caused by abnormalities in the genomic make-up and mechanism. Cancer may arise as a consequence of innate genomic abnormalities such as mutations, deletions, gene amplifications or rearrangements, the body’s immune system, or external assaults such as tobacco, alcohol, chemicals, infections, and radiation. Precision medicine is a concept that entails designing a personalized cancer treatment strategy based on a thorough understanding of the mechanisms that cause a given disease. Novel treatment approaches are being explored to enhance survival and minimize side effects associated with treatment in order to preserve quality of life.
Although standard of care guidelines are specific to the cancer type and may involve different modalities of cancer treatment like surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy the unique biology of each tumor has become integral to cancer care worldwide.
A comprehensive plan of care with experts discussing the nuances of each case is very much a reality and no longer futuristic. This usually happens in tandem with the identification of a diagnostic route, in which we unravel the mystery specific to that patient’s cancer. Beyond the obligatory typical histopathologic investigation, this is accomplished by conducting Comprehensive Genomic Analysis and even further by performing Multi-Analyte Testing to study the DNA, RNA, proteins, the metabolic functions within the cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment.
Understanding cancer biology and developing treatment options based on that knowledge has resulted in a paradigm shift in cancer management and disease outcome.
Biomarker discovery and designing therapeutic strategies based on that are largely concepts being applied to late-stage cancers. However, the field is progressing, and with that the application of precision medicine is moving into cancer prevention and to the early stages where the goal is to prevent disease relapse.
Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are two examples of novel therapeutic applications that are being utilized to enhance outcomes, improve survival and make cancer treatments less morbid. Such medications are now being used to prevent cancer from returning, in addition to improving outcomes in advanced cancers.
Although, most of these medications are now available in India at reasonable cost, immunotherapy remains prohibitively expensive, restricting its use. Bringing clinical trials with these novel drugs into the country is one way to boost access.
The arena of immunotherapy, which includes cancer vaccines, adaptive T cell therapy, and CAR-T cell therapy, is another key area of advancement in customizing oncologic therapies. These techniques are mostly used in blood cancers, however, these strategies are emerging in solid tumors too.
Genomic analysis and biomarker identification are so integral to cancer care that they are going to become a mandatory part of diagnostic investigation and critical to appropriate therapeutic application. The objective and endeavor is to lower the cost of such testing and make them routine, so that informed decision-making becomes the rule rather than the exception!
{{C_D}}
{{{short}}} {{#more}} {{{long}}}… Read More {{/more}}
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
House that?: Bulldozing alleged rioters’ houses, shops violates due process, can extract bigger costs
Why India should be wary of Sergey Lavrov’s ‘new reality’
Why & how to save Congress: The party represents a valuable political ideology but voters know it doesn’t reward talent
Do the smart thing: Biden asking for war crimes trial of Putin doesn’t help Ukraine. Backchannel diplomacy can
‘Provocations often overlooked’, actor Divyanka Tripathi shares her opinion on Will Smith’s Oscar row
If US wants to sell us gas, it must match Russian discounts
Is India a fuel price outlier? Not really. Proportion of tax in retail prices is higher in some countries. Indians’ spend on oil as proportion of daily income is in middle category in cross-country data
Senior IAS officers need a tutorial in elementary economic concepts
Cost of disharmony: Diverse India can’t afford imposition of one group’s ideas on others. Neither can its economy
Has IAS failed the nation? Not really: Critiques of the service should also recognise its immense strengths & many constraints
Interested in blogging for timesofindia.com? We will be happy to have you on board as a blogger, if you have the knack for writing. Just drop in a mail at toiblogs@timesinternet.in with a brief bio and we will get in touch with you.
Chennai Talkies
Ruminations,TOI News,Tracking Indian Communities
Swaminomics
Cash Flow
Copyright © 2021 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service