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World Cancer Day is an initiative of international health organizations to promote prevention and research on this pathology. We tell you in this article what are the latest advances in oncology.
To note the presence of this terrible disease, and raise awareness about the need to prevent and investigate it, all February 4 has been declared as World Cancer Day. It is an initiative of the World Health Organization and the International Union to Fight Cancer.
In addition, on September 24, in some countries, World Cancer Research Day has been established. With a view to promoting scientific studies projects that are linked to neoplasms. Research in this area of knowledge is constant, and advances are very noticeable.
In any case, one of the great obstacles is inequality. Not all countries are in a position to meet the costs demanded by the investigation. Also in this regard, World Cancer Day comes to alert to promote international solidarity.
Consider that cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality. Each year, about eighteen million people are diagnosed with a neoplasm. With almost nine million people dying for the same reason. Mortality is higher among men than among women.
The three main cancers in the world are breast cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer. Among the three they represent a third of the number of cancer cases in the world. And tobacco – a lung cancer generator – is attributed to more than 20% of cancer deaths.
Commemorating World Cancer Day, we are going to tell you in this article the three most important advances in your research.
The origin of metastases
World Cancer Day does not speak specifically of metastases. We know that they are a serious consequence of malignancies. In metastases, some primary tumor cells travel to adhere to another area of the body and create a new focus.
Of all the neoplastic cells, only 1% are able to detach, travel and adhere successfully elsewhere. This has always had researchers with surprise. That is why studies have been developed to know how metastasis really works.
If its mechanism could be understood, we would be closer to preventing them in patients who already have a diagnosis of cancer. Prevention at that level would limit mortality in cases that qualify as terminal.
This is how we arrived at the latest development in this regard, led by Joan Massagué, a Spanish researcher working in New York. The articles of his team in the journal Nature have given to speak for the promising of the discoveries.
The research team has found that metastatic cells express the L1CAM protein to adhere to. This protein is the same as the body naturally uses to close wounds.
In other words, the neoplasms copy the epithelial repair system that the human being has intrinsically. This allows them to travel to a different place and be accepted by the receiving body.
Liquid biopsy as an option
World Cancer Day also brings us the fresh memory of advances that improve early diagnosis. Being able to quickly detect the presence of tumor cells improves the prognosis significantly.
Traditionally, organ biopsy used as a confirmatory mechanism of cancer. Upon suspicion, the doctor makes an incision in the affected organ and takes a sample to analyze in the laboratory.
This procedure is precise, but it has its obstacles. Not all organs are easy to reach, nor all the conditions of patients allow progress in such a procedure.
Thus we arrive at the liquid biopsy. It consists of detecting tumor cells, or substances produced by tumors, directly inaccessible fluids, without having to influence solid organs. We can perform a liquid blood biopsy, for example, with a simple extraction.
Regarding the traditional biopsy, the liquid has marked advantages :
- Invades the body in much less proportion
- It may be indicated in patients in whom the primary tumor organ is inaccessible, or who cannot undergo a common biopsy.
- It can be repeated more easily and quickly
The relationship between microbiota and cancer
The microbiota is a relatively new topic in medicine. Although the existence of this group of microorganisms that constantly inhabit our intestines has long been known, it is not long since they are given the importance they have.
It has already been linked to the microbiota with diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. Also, of course, its influence on the most common digestive disorders, such as the irritable bowel, has been detected.
The best knowledge of the microbiota brings with it a series of dietary recommendations that could be preventive. We must understand that the microorganisms that form the intestinal microbiota subject to internal changes caused by food.
This opens a link between microbiota, diet, and cancer. There is even a relationship between the microbiota and an organism’s response to chemotherapy. A further step in the treatment of neoplasms would be to consider the potentiation of this tiny world of intestinal bacteria in favor of recovery.
Hope on World Cancer Day
Oncology research is hope for patients and for the entire world population. Being a disease so frequent and with so much mortality, we must consider that progress benefits us globally.
World Cancer Day lets us know that a lot of knowledge has accumulated on cancer pathologies. And there is much more way ahead. The process by which tumors form is better understood, and compared to a decade ago, the chances of survival have increased significantly. Published By Healthzigzag.com
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