The subject of this blog is a ruthless collection of diseases. One in three of us will be diagnosed with this during our lifetimes and one in four will die as a result. Newspapers frequently report on the latest discoveries of causes and cures of this collective disease, the poisons and remedies found in our everyday lives. I am of course talking about cancer. I know the picture to the right is a give away, unless you were distracted by the ever-cheerful face of Andy Murray, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.
Cancer is the uncontrolled proliferation of abnormal cells in the body, which can assemble to form a tumour and disrupt the functioning of tissues and subsequently organs. Cancer cells can metastasise (spread) from the tissues they originated in to other organs, where they colonize to form secondary tumours. Metastasis is responsible for 90% of cancer deaths and is subsequently a major issue in the battle against cancer. With over 200 different types of cancer, each having different causes, symptoms and treatments, scientists and health professionals have got a huge battle on their hands.
So that’s the basics, and let’s be honest, it’s not too cheery. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Cancer survival rates have doubled in the UK over the past forty years, and it’s thanks to scientific research funded by charities such as Cancer Research UK. Cancer Research UK funds the work of more than 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses, and the research is coming thick and fast. For example, one of the latest publications in the scientific journal 'Nature' shows that scientists from the USA have used an experimental drug to inhibit the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in mice.
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| Mis-formed white blood cells of an AML patient |
So what is AML? AML is cancer of the myeloid lineage of blood cells. AML occurs when the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells, which are consequently mis-formed and function incorrectly. The white blood cells then overcrowd the bone marrow, taking space that should be occupied by other types of important blood cells. The bone marrow is essential for fighting infections, which AML patients are subsequently more susceptible to.
The recent research by Zuber et al. revolves around the protein ‘Brd4’, identified to be involved in the development of AML. Scientists subsequently tested an experimental drug which inhibited the Brd4 protein from functioning and found it to inhibit AML in both cell and mice studies. The drug had anti-leukemia activity and showed minimal toxicity to non-cancerous cells, and is now being developed for therapeutic use. Although this will take an expected two years to enter clinical trials, it is a significant step in the treatment of AML. This recent report also brings news of the potential of this drug to contribute to the treatment of other types of cancer.
There are frequent developments, such as the above, in the understanding and treatment of cancer. However, I personally believe that the media can take science out of context, an issue I feel very strongly about. ‘A glass of red wine stops cancer’, ‘a glass of red wine causes cancer’; with such headlines it seems that scientists don’t know what they’re talking about. Finding, for example, that a component of wine can inhibit a certain type of cancer in a certain model of set conditions can frequently lead to the headline ‘Wine Stops Cancer’. This is simply not the case and findings from initial research such as this shouldn’t be taken so literally as to change our daily behaviour. Scientific papers have the bare facts. Newspapers have the catchy headlines. I know which I prefer.
References
Zuber, J. et al. RNAi screen identifies Brd4 as a therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukaemia. Nature doi:10.1038/nature10334
Appelbaum FM. The acute leukemias. In Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 194.
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