The latest advancements in medicine are growing exponentially with the various treatment options made available to patients suffering from certain forms of cancer. The options have been considered more of a science instead of a fact. Cancer is an intricate disease that needs an extensive multidisciplinary approach to treatment. Oncology clinical trials form the core part of this approach, which renders an entire range of treatment options targeting cancer cells while reducing the damage to healthy tissues.
In our post today, we will explore numerous elements of medical oncology and its role in the multidisciplinary treatment plan for cancer.
Advancements in Medical Oncology
The traditional way of cancer treatment and management has shifted as an outcome of the recent advanced medical treatments by Oncology clinical trials. The following are the most notable advancements as enlisted here:
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that increases the human body’s natural defenses to help combat the disease. The therapy has resulted in notable enhancements in cancer treatment. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are the kind of medicine that works by releasing the brakes on the immune system of the body, enabling it to attack the cancer cells.
The immune system often minimizes or stops the growth of cancer after responding to and locating the malignancy. The advancements made in immunotherapy offer new insights into how and when such novel medicines operate or become available. Patients with a massive range of blood malignancies or solid tumors have additional therapeutic options due to the clinical research and trials of immunotherapy. The latest breakthroughs in treating cancer are bringing us closer to the time when cancer becomes a curable disease.
As noted through the recent clinical trial findings made by the CROs, combined radiation treatment for lung cancer with the help of immunotherapy boosts the lung cancer patient’s survival and reduces the negative responses.
Genomic or Personalized Medicine
Several forms of cancers are often associated with mutated or damaged DNA. The analysis of the gene sequences in a person’s DNA offers details that get used in creating the custom drugs that target cancer and prevent its growth or spreading. Such drugs would often target the specific genes or proteins that are found in cancer cells related to the growth of cancer like the blood vessel cells. Also considered are genomic medicine, personalized medicine, and targeted therapy, which hold the key to highly accurate predictions, better treatments, enhanced survival rates, and life quality with a massive range of cancers.
Stem Cell Therapy
The stem cell is often the immature cell developing into any cell required by the body. For this therapy, healthier stem cells get collected from the bone marrow or blood of either the compatible donor or the patient, according to the clinical trials of Contract Research Organizations. Such cells get transplanted into the body of the patient, where they replace the diseased cells with new non-cancerous cells. Stem cell therapy is specifically beneficial for cancers of the blood and bone marrow like non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, Hodgkin disease, and multiple myeloma.
Proton Therapy
The advanced form of external radiation therapy offers a more accurate delivery of the radiation to the tumor. The benefits to another patient would include less damage to the healthier tissues, fewer side effects, less cosmetic damage to the skin, and little to no impact on the energy level of a patient. It is never appropriate for every patient; however shows promise in treating brain, head and neck, spine, breast, and lung cancers. Patients often with left-sided breast cancer would benefit because the heart muscles will not get damaged through radiation.
Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles are the smaller particles that are designed for delivering drugs or therapeutic agents distinctively to the cancer cells. The use of nanoparticles in cancer treatment is becoming part of nanomedicine. It is the field that explores the way how nanotechnology, including oncology, can boost cancer treatment, diagnosis, and monitoring. It is due to their smaller size that they become more stable and safer for the body. They would remain in the cancer region for a longer time, enabling the drugs time to work out.
Robotic Surgery
The doctor will use the cameras and tools that place the minor wounds in the body during the robotic surgeries. They would sit at the computer and operate robotic arms employing better foot and hand controls while checking it out through the viewfinder. The robotic arm accesses the tough-to-reach bodily regions and is more accurate than the hands of surgeons. It is the kind of surgery to help reduce the loss of blood and discomfort following the treatment. It would even help in cutting down the time spent in the hospital. Robotic surgery is often used in lung cancer treatment, prostrate cancer therapy, melanoma treatment, and ovarian cancer treatment.
Precision Medicine
Precision medicine would often examine how gene modification or mutation impacts the likelihood of a person to develop specific cancer or the way their genes would impact therapy if they already have cancer. It is the method employing data from genetic testing to help doctors place together a treatment plan, including the exact suggestions. Precision medicine would often help generate more precise diagnoses and boost the therapy across a few situations.
Conclusion
The personalized treatments and targeted therapies have changed the entire outlook of cancer clinical research. These advancements have introduced new and promising treatments that are showing their ability. The constant evolution of the research helps greater innovative approaches emerge, leading to the best treatment options and enhanced patient care.