Skip to main content

Chemotherapy from 50's till now

A little bit of chemotherapy history. Those of you that like me have been through it in 1980's and 2008 would certainly see the difference #iamstillawoman #chemotherapy #changes #technology 
During World War II, naval personnel who were exposed to mustard gas during military action were found to have toxic changes in the bone marrow cells that develop into blood cells. During that same period, the US Army was studying a number of chemicals related to mustard gas to develop more effective agents for war and also develop protective measures. In the course of that work, a compound called nitrogen mustard was studied and found to work against a cancer of the lymph nodes called lymphoma. This agent served as the model for a long series of similar but more effective agents (called alkylating agents) that killed rapidly growing cancer cells by damaging their DNA.
Not long after the discovery of nitrogen mustard, Sidney Farber of Boston demonstrated that aminopterin, a compound related to the vitamin folic acid, produced remissions in children with acute leukemia. Aminopterin blocked a critical chemical reaction needed for DNA replication. That drug was the predecessor of methotrexate, a cancer treatment drug used commonly today. Since then, other researchers discovered drugs that block different functions in cell growth and replication. The era of chemotherapy had begun.
Metastatic cancer was first cured in 1956 when methotrexate was used to treat a rare tumor called choriocarcinoma. Over the years, chemotherapy drugs (chemo) have successfully treated many people with cancer. Long-term remissions and even cures of many patients with Hodgkin disease and childhood ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) treated with chemo were first reported during the 1960s. Cures of testicular cancer were seen during the next decade. Many other cancers can be controlled with chemo for long periods of time, even if they are not cured. Today, several approaches are available to improve the activity and reduce the side effects of chemo. These include:
  • New drugs, new combinations of drugs, and new delivery techniques
  • Novel approaches that target drugs more specifically at the cancer cells (such as liposomal therapy and monoclonal antibody therapy) to produce fewer side effects
  • Drugs to reduce side effects, like colony-stimulating factors, chemoprotective agents (such as dexrazoxane and amifostine), and anti-emetics (to reduce nausea and vomiting)
  • Agents that overcome multi-drug resistance (when the cancer doesn’t respond to the usual treatment drugs)
Early in the 20th century, only cancers small and localized enough to be completely removed by surgery were curable. Later, radiation was used after surgery to control small tumor growths that were not surgically removed. Finally, chemotherapy was added to destroy small tumor growths that had spread beyond the reach of the surgeon and radiotherapist. Chemo used after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells in the body is called adjuvant therapy. Adjuvant therapy was tested first in breast cancer and found to be effective. It was later used in colon cancer, testicular cancer, and others.
A major discovery was the advantage of using multiple chemotherapy drugs (known as combination chemotherapy) over single agents. Some types of very fast-growing leukemia and lymphoma (tumors involving the cells of the bone marrow and lymph nodes, respectively) responded very well to combination chemo, and clinical trials led to gradual improvement of the drug combinations used. Many of these tumors can be cured today by appropriate combination chemotherapy.
The approach to patient treatment has become more scientific with the introduction of clinical trials on a wide basis throughout the world. Clinical trials compare new treatments to standard treatments and contribute to a better understanding of treatment benefits and risks. They are used to test theories about cancer learned in the basic science laboratory and also test ideas drawn from the clinical observations on cancer patients. They are necessary for continued progress.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Hard nipples" - areola or nipple skin

Someone once wrote"... when i get really cold, or get goosebumbs all over my body, the whole things really scrunch up, like, my entire areola scrunches itself up into a wrinkled little mound. it looks really weird and ugly, and i haven't ever seen other people's breasts do it. what is wrong with my areola/nipples??" The answer: Well nothing is wrong. This is what my areola does too. It's a normal reaction to the coldness or to irritation / stimulation. The little muscles in the areola do a similar goosebump thing as your other skin can do. People often call this phenomenon "hard nipples". Also note that skin on areola has less feeling or sensation to it than other areas of your body. If the areola was very sensitive, then breastfeeding would probably be quite uncomfortable because the baby pulls and tugs it! The nipples are sensitive but the sensitivity changes with hormonal changes, such as occur at mestrual cycle or pregnancy. Also this v...
8 comments
Read more

Kate Jackson Breast Cancer a flash back

THE MOST MOMENTOUS CHANGE IN Kate Jackson's life began early one morning in January 1987, during her fourth season on the hit TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. After a phone call informed her that the show's taping was canceled because costar Bruce Boxleitner had the flu, Jackson went back to sleep. When she woke several hours later, "It was out of the blue, but perfectly clear," she recalls. "I sat up in bed and literally said, 'You have to have a mammogram.' " She did, and two days later a biopsy confirmed her vague fears: A minute growth found in her left breast was determined to be malignant. "I was forced to face, squared up, my own mortality," says Jackson. "I had to decide whether I wanted to live or to die. And if you choose life, as I did, it's never the same." For three TV seasons 16 years ago, she was famous as Sabrina Duncan, a girl-next-door gone glamorous and the character critics dubbed the brainiest o...
Post a Comment
Read more

The four stages of breast development

In Stage 1 shows the flat breasts of childhood. By Stage 2, breast buds are formed as milk ducts and fat tissue develop. In Stage 3, the breast become round and full, and the areola darkens. Stage 4 shows fully mature breasts. (Illustration by GGS Information Services.) period begins. Usually these signs are accompanied by the appearance of pubic hair and hair under the arms. Once ovulation and  menstruation  begin, the maturing of the breasts begins with the formation of secretory glands at the end of the milk ducts. The breasts and duct system continue to grow and mature with the development of many glands and lobules. The rate at which breasts grow varies significantly and is different for each young woman. Breast development occurs in five stages: Stage One: In preadolescence, the breasts are flat and only the tip of the nipple is raised. Stage Two: Buds appear, breast and nipple are raised, fat tissue begins to form and the areola (dark area of skin that ...
1 comment
Read more