Despite billions of money being disbursed annually, there is still no definite cure for cancer. Research has unveiled a variety of possible ways to curb the disease, one such as UCART19 which was discovered in June 2015, only to be tested just recently.
Cancer is caused due to an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. Some patients are diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
A five month old baby, Layla Richard, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She, like many other cancer patients, had numerous blood tests and a bone marrow transplant done in hopes of deterring the cancer. The doctors said there was nothing they could do, until a therapy (UCART19) had formed from Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London’s Institute of Children’s Health.
There was a dispute whether or not Layla should be tested. In the end, the doctors and Layla’s parents allowed Layla to undergo the treatment.
“There is not much reason against testing it; they have a chance to live a long happy life even if it is very small it is still something compared to absolute certainty of death,” Newtown High School sophomore Garrett Reed said.
The treatment involves using molecular scissors that will edit genes and make immune cells capable of finding and killing cancer. If the treatment works, it could very well lead to a cure in cancer.
Rather than the treatment relying upon weak immune cells, the researchers formulated T-cells from donors that work for every patient. The simple function of T-cells is that they help participate in the immune response.
Using a tool called TALEN which is a genome editing tool, it cuts the T-cells to allow it to be unaffected by the leukemia drugs. This would ordinarily kill the T-cells. They then pasted in new programming, allowing the T-cells to fight against cancer. This treatment also prevents the T-cells from killing off healthy cells too.
The T-cells injected into Layla, were still in the process of being tested when Layla had taken it. After weeks of no effect, signs of the treatment working appeared. As of now Layla is healthy and slowly recovering, yet the treatment is still not fully tested.
Beyond untested treatment, there are cases in which a bone marrow transplant will suffice. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is one of the worst types of cancer. Baltimore radio cast, Maria Dennis, had leukemia and successfully fought off cancer due to a bone marrow transplant.
She currently proves to be a spokesperson, going to hospitals and comforting patients fighting cancer. Her story has reached many; through the radio station she received an astounding amount of support.
Through the process her family and friends had supported her too. “I have a stack of texts that I received through the radio station that I would read periodically. They were all amazing notes of love and support,” Maria Dennis said.
People all around the world are impacted by cancer. With the glimpse of a treatment that could possibly cure more people, most would jump at the opportunity.
Any breakthrough should not be hidden from the public. It is not only when dealing with cancer that there are untested treatments. Such as HIV, or as silly as it seems, how come people cannot simply take a pill and their cold will vanish? Instead people take medicine in hopes it passes within a couple days rather than hanging over them for weeks. It is a matter of the variations of a sickness. Technically a cure for cancer could be found but it may only help breast cancer.
The pathway to be disease free may indeed be a rocky road, but the outcome is worth the while.
“It was a very hard and long struggle but I made it, and now can proudly say that I'm cancer free!” Dennis said.
Image Courtesy of bbc.com