5/20/2023 0 Comments The first cell azra raza![]() ![]() The author does not ignore the recent success with immunotherapy, but she notes that the therapy remains limited and comes with its own risks and side effects. Consequently, it’s not surprising that candidate cancer drugs fare dismally in human trials and that the few that offer some hope extend the life of patients by only weeks-and at great cost. In this approach, researchers study human tumors as static entities in tissue culture or injected into mice whose immune systems and microenvironments are in no way comparable to the cancers seen in mostly elderly patients. Raza (Medicine/Columbia Univ.) decries the “protocol of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation-the slash-poison-burn approach to treating cancer” that has remained unchanged for decades.” She points out the billions spent on research to find and target a single mutated gene or a faulty signaling pathway at a time when a seasoned tumor has evolved into a chaotic mass of malignant cells reproducing in multiple clones with varying genetic and cellular derangements. A welcome argument that we are overdue for a change in the paradigm for treating cancer. ![]()
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