Gene Therapy for Prostate Cancer
 Sniffling. Sneezing. Stuffy head. Aches and pains ... sound like you've got a cold.
Science has discovered a cure for most problems facing us today ... but the common cold isn't one of them. But it's not all bad news. It seems scientists have found a way to "pimp out" the common cold virus regarding prostate cancer. You see, a number of treatments in development, will if successful, allow doctors to use less radition therapy to treat prostate cancer. If a tumor depends on a specific protein to repair its DNA and keep the cells dividing and growing, deactivating that protein allows the cancer cells to be killed more effectively with less radiation. Laboratory studies have shown, quite conclusively that a combination of radiation and drugs that switch off the cells DNA repair machine, can destroy seven times more cancer cells than the same dose of radiation alone.
Achoo!Now enters the common cold. One of the most interesting ways to get a drug to the prostate tumor is to use modified common cold viruses called adenoviruses, to serve as the drug delivery system. Even if the drug spills out into other tissues, it won't matter because the radiation therapy is aimed only at the prostate. Eventually, scientists hope to further refine gene therapy for prostate cancer that will reduce the amount of repair proteins in the cancer cells but not affect normal, healthy cells, especially since a researcher has evidently discovered the prostate cancer gene. While prostate cancer is stressful and scary, if found early enough, it tends not to be lethal. If you're nearing fifty years of age ... please talk to your doctor about getting screened for prostate cancer. Jim Shaw
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