Understanding Cancer Brings New Insights For Treatments and Prevention
With an expanded understanding of cancer, researchers are better able to develop new treatments and prevention strategies.
Each year since 1999, we’ve realized an ever-increasing decline in cancer-related deaths, an encouraging development that’s poised to carry on as experts gain a greater understanding of cancer, its causes, and new and better treatment options. Nevertheless, cancer is still among the primary causes of death in America, second only to heart disease – making it crucial to continue to press forward with determination to locate a cure.
Here’s what we’ve discovered so far:
Diet is important. While a meal plan high in antioxidants can help prevent cell damage (and protect against cancer), a recently available research study showed that in many cases, cancers benefit from a nutrient-rich diet, resulting in hastened metastasis. As a result, the recommendation is to avoid antioxidant supplements except when the doctor prescribes them. Get your antioxidants from fruits, veggies, and beans instead, since the extra molecules in the whole food makes a difference. Moreover, a connection is suspected between sugary beverages (soda, artificially sweetened drinks, as well as 100% fruit juice) and an elevated danger of cancer.
Cancer may develop before birth. In particular, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is known to stem from a mutation that evolves in utero, triggered when infection is first introduced. The recommendation is to make sure children are introduced to germs in the first year of life, to train the immune system to deal with pathogens and stop the secondary mutation that triggers leukemia.
The focus is shifting to immunotherapy. Those who’ve experienced the ravages of chemotherapy’s side effects will be relieved at the latest treatment advances, which center on immunotherapy which enables the targeting of only the cancer cells themselves. A clinical trial of a “cancer vaccine,” in combination with a mild dose of radiation, has recently shown promising results.
The monetary impact could be tremendous. A substantial study of 9.5 million cancer patients revealed an average financial loss of over $92,000, as 42% of these patients were forced to deplete their life savings to pay for the cost of just the first couple of years of treatment. Authors of this study share, “As large financial burdens have been found to adversely affect access to care and outcomes, the active development of approaches to mitigate these effects among already vulnerable groups remains of key importance.”
