Cancer Cure - Where Is It ?

Male1: It is one of the myths out there, either from the internet or just people talking that there is a cure for a cancer that drug companies have—but they do not want to give it out, is that true?
Male2: I doubt that. There is a lot of research that is now going on. Research that exists both from the government standpoint through the National Cancer Institute as well as the true pharmaceutical companies and corporation and we in 2006 understand a lot of the biological processes of cancer, so it is a lot better than just ten years ago, and in some circumstances, they have actually come up with drugs that are very specific for a particular form of cancer. People may have heard the word GLIVEC which has been the recent drug that essentially revolutionized the treatment of one of the adult forms of leukemia, which rarely occurs in kids.
Male1: How does that drug work?
Male2: That drug actually works because there are two pieces of the genetic materials that come together to create essentially a new gene and that new gene is responsible--
Male1: You call that a new type of gene therapy?
Male2: It is to some degree. It is not directed against the gene, but it is directed against the gene base, which is a protein and they were able to come up in the laboratory to allow with a small molecule that specifically inhibits that particular one.
Male1: Since cancer cell is like a protein, why can we not just immunize against that protein?
Male2: Well, it is an interesting question. The issue of immunity of cancer still remains a very open question. We have antibodies that are actually specific for a certain form of cancer and those actually have created a new area of interest as we were talking about lymphomas. That is first an area where some antibodies are now forming in terms of treating in non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, but the ability to modulate immune system of the individual who has cancer to fight cancer is still in its infancy today.



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