Novel/Unconventional Methods for Cancer Treatment (7)

Converting cancer cells back to normal cells (7)

Yet another general strategy in cancer treatment is to convert cancer cells back to normal cells or stem cells.  At first, this may sound strange or even ridiculous.  However, it does make sense if we think it over carefully. 

As we mentioned before, most cancer cells are derived from normal cells and they are like brothers/sisters.  In an analogy, this is similar to the human society in that most criminals were good people before they commit some crimes.  Many times, it is because something bad happens to a person to create a situation for the person to commit a crime.  For example, continued attraction by money or sexual reason can create a situation for someone to commit a crime (i.e., normal cells to become cancerous cells).  However, if the person has been well trained and/or disciplined, many of these people could be re-educated and gradually become normal good people (i.e., cancer cells to become normal cells).  One of the new strategies to treat cancer is based on this principle.  However, this is not an easy task. For example, a number of genes in the nuclei of cancer cells may have to be modulated so that the cells can be “re-educated and/or guided” back to become normal cells.  

Furthermore, if certain drugs can reverse the process and “normalize” cancer cells, why can’t we use the same strategy to prevent normal cells to become cancer cells?  In other words, if one can avoid the cancer causing factors, the chance of getting cancer (risk factor) will be significantly reduced.  This is an important strategy of cancer prevention.

If this strategy, reversing cancer cells back to normal cells, can be successfully developed and used, I think it could become one of the best ways to deal with cancer.  This is just like what the ancient Chinese war strategist, Sun Tze, said, conquering your enemy without a war is the best strategy.  Unfortunately, researchers are still working hard in this area and it could take a while for this strategy to become practical.

Scientists are making real progress in the area of cell-to-cell transition between different types of cells.  For example, a process called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) converts epithelial cells (differentiated cells) back to mesenchymal stem cells.  EMT occurs in wound healing and other some biological processes.  For another example, Dr. Panos Anastasiadis and colleagues at Mayo Clinic discovered a potential mechanism of reprogramming cancers cells.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2016

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Although some commercial products, publications, and services are mentioned in this blog, the author does not endorse any specific products, publications, or services.  None of the contents in this blog represents or warrants that any of the products, publications, or services is appropriate or effective for their intended purposes. Readers shall always seek the advice of their physicians or other medical practitioners with any questions regarding personal health or medical conditions and shall be solely responsible for their own decisions and/or actions.

Novel/Unconventional Methods for Cancer Treatment (2)

(2) Using Heat therapy (Hyperthermia) to Kill Cancer Cells

Heat therapy is a method to use heat to treat diseases. There are a number of methods to generate/deliver heat for therapeutic purpose. For example, ultrasound has been used as a tool to generate the required heat to kill cancer cells. Heat can also be transferred by a thin needle inserted into a tumor.

If you remember, we talked about the potential of heat to damage DNA. Given sufficient heat, DNA replication can be hampered and the cells will stop the replication or die. This is one of the reasons how heat therapy can be used in cancer treatment.

Heat therapy in cancer can be divided into two general classes, local and regional hyperthermia. In local hyperthermia, very high temperature is used to destroy a small area of tumor cells by coagulating the proteins and destroying the nearby blood vessels. If the treatment time is long enough, DNA/cell replication could also be affected. In regional hyperthermia, the temperature of a portion of the body is raised a few degrees higher than normal.

Most of the time, hyperthermia is used in combination with other treatments, such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Simply put, all cells grow better at certain range of temperature. If the temperature becomes too high, the cells may not survive. Logically, when cancer cells die of heat, some surrounding normal cells may be damaged or die, too. Theoretically, this method should work well. However, similar to most anticancer treatments, the technical hurdle of heat therapy is how to kill cancer cells while minimizing the damage to normal cells. 

All contents posted in this blog are extracted from the book "IS CANCER IN US", available at Amazon.

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Although some commercial products, publications, and services are mentioned in this blog, the author does not endorse any specific products, publications, or services.  None of the contents in this blog represents or warrants that any of the products, publications, or services is appropriate or effective for their intended purposes. Readers shall always seek the advice of their physicians or other medical practitioners with any questions regarding personal health or medical conditions and shall be solely responsible for their own decisions and/or actions.