Tag Archive for: chemotherapy

1st August – World Lung Cancer Day – Focusing on Treatment for Lung Cancer

In recognition of #WorldLungCancerDay, It is important for everyone to learn about the #riskfactors for Lung cancer along with the importance of #earlydiagnosis through #screening and timely treatment to decrease #mortality.

In cancer care, different types of doctors often work together to create a patient’s overall treatment plan that combines different types of treatments. This is called a multidisciplinary team.

There are 5 main treatment options : i) Surgery, ii) #Radiationtherapy, iii) #Chemotherapy, iv) Targeted therapy   v) #Immunotherapy

#Surgery includes #Lobectomy, Wedge resection, Segmentectomy, #Pneumonectomy.

#Chemotherapy is the use of #drugs to destroy cancer cells, usually by keeping the cancer cells from growing, dividing, and making more cells. It has been shown to improve both the length and quality of life for people with lung cancer of all stages. Targeted therapy is a #treatment that targets the cancer’s specific genes, proteins, or the tissue environment that contributes to cancer growth and survival. This type of treatment blocks the growth and spread of cancer cells and limits damage to healthy cells. Immunotherapy, also called biologic therapy, is designed to boost the body’s natural defenses to fight the cancer. It uses material made either by the body or in a laboratory to improve, target, or restore immune system function.

showcase of Prostate cancer inventory at Sapien

Prostate cancer is the most common gender specific cancer. Prostate is the second leading site of cancer among males in large Indian cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram, third leading site of cancer in cities like Bangalore and Mumbai. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and various state cancer registries, prostate cancer is the second most common form of cancer among Indian males with an incidence rate of nine to 10 per 1,00,000 population, which is higher than Africa and other parts of Asia . Almost 75% of men diagnosed with prostatic cancer are 65 or older, but the tumors can be seen in younger adults and even in children and adolescents. Hence regular screening above the age of 60 must be done for the early signs. Early screening is the best possible way to prevent and to treat the cancer before it spreads. Screening is done by checking PSA levels, and/or MRI, Ultrasound or biopsy along with physical examination.

Pediatric gliomas

Individuals below the age of 18 years are susceptible to #pediatriccancer and so #pediatriccancerawareness is paramount. Many different treatment options are available including #radiotherapy, #chemotherapy, and surgery based on the type of #cancer and disease severity. Excellent follow up care both by family, #survivorship clinics and organizations such as Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, and others will restore a healthy life to those affected.

American Brain Tumor Association, 

Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation

International Brain Tumour Alliance

A Kids’ Brain Tumor Cure Foundation (PLGA Foundation)

National Brain Tumor Society

Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

ABC2 (Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure)

Recurrence in Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer most often spreads to lungs and bones, but it can also spread to brain, liver, and other organs. As it has no symptoms early on, it can spread before you even know you have it. Smoking tobacco doubles the risk of developing kidney cancer. Prevention of metastatic kidney cancer can be done by quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight & eating a diet high in fruits & vegetables & low in fat. If cancer has not spread far, surgery may be a cure. If it has spread to other organs, then treatment like targeted therapy and Immunotherapy will be recommended.

 

 

Treatment for Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer is most often treated with Surgery, Chemotherapy, Targeted therapy, Immunotherapy, Radiation therapy or combination of these treatments. Treatment options and recommendations depend on several factors, including the cell type and stage of cancer, possible side effects and the patient’s preferences and overall health. For most kidney cancers, surgery is the initial treatment. The goal of surgery is to remove the tumor while preserving normal kidney function. The type of surgery done to remove the tumor is Radical Nephrectomy & Partial Nephrectomy.

Metastatic Lung Cancer-Finding cure starts with awareness

Having lung cancer or a history of lung cancer, is the cause for lung cancer metastases. Cancer that metastasizes to the lungs is a life-threatening condition that develops when cancer in another area of the body (primary organ such as breast), spreads to the lung. Prevention of metastatic lung cancer can be done by avoiding the risk factors of primary lung cancer such as smoking or chewing tobacco, or prompt and successful treatment of your primary cancer. Awareness, early detection and timely treatment are vital for preventing the spread of lung cancer.

Sapien’s samples and real world data enables validation of a new Indian breast cancer test with high concordance to OncotypeDx test

In 2014, Sapien partnered with Oncostem Diagnostics to provide our curated breast cancer FFPE blocks and RWE 5 years treatment and recurrence outcome data to enable the validation of a new test to accurately determine the risk of recurrence in early stage breast ca patients. A key goal of the test was to identify patients at low risk that could avoid chemotherapy and its side-effects, a major benefit to #cancerpatients (see Sapien referenced in this & previous papers).

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cam4.3495

It’s gratifying to see their first test, canAssist Breast for hormone positive breast cancer patients, perform equivalent to the gold standard Oncotype Dx test, a more expensive and higher TAT for Indian patients.

Our deep collection of matched FFPE blocks and longitudinal RWE data to enable precision medicine tests has continued to grow, both in breast cancer (>10,000 cases), and in #colorectalcancer, #lungcancer, #oralcancer, #kidneycancer, #ovariancancer #glioma #liver cancers. Contact us at  queries@sapienbio.com

The largest category of breast cancers are hormone receptor (HR) positive. These comprise 55-60% of all breast cancers globally as well as in India. Unlike triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), HR positive breast cancers respond well to personalized treatment with newer drugs and have a high chance of successful treatment and long-term survival even in advanced stages. Hence it is important to get them diagnosed and typed for HR positivity early on and tailor the treatment for each patient.

20-30% of patients with potentially curable breast cancer develop metastasis, denying breast cancer samurais the high quality and length of life. We need to dedicate ourselves to understanding the molecular mechanism underlying Metastatic Breast Cancer which will help identify personalized screening and treatment approaches to fight metastasis

 

Breast cancer remains a significant societal, clinical and scientific challenge. It is very crucial to understand the epidemiology, epi/genetics, molecular pathology, cell and protein biology and the influence of hormones on its development and progression. Breast cancer remains the leading cancer in Indian women and worldwide hence raising awareness for risk factors and early detection is critical to increase the quantity and quality of life.