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Recent Technologies and Future Perspectives in

Cancer Therapies

Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, Pubrica, sales@pubrica.com

Keywords: Cancer, Immunotherapy, Gene therapy,

Radiomics and pathomics, Therapies,

I. INTRODUCTION

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality

globally, and many research studies have focused in the

last decade on developing novel therapeutics to lessen

the negative effects of existing treatments. Tumors

become extremely heterogeneous as cancer progresses,

resulting in a mixed population of cells with varying

molecular characteristics and therapeutic

responses.This variability may be seen at both a

geographic and temporal level, and it is a significant

element in the establishment of resistance phenotypes,

which is aided by a selection pressure applied during

drug administration[1]. Typically, cancer is treated as a

single, worldwide disease, and tumors are viewed as a

group of cells.. As a result, a thorough knowledge of

these complicated events is critical for developing

accurate and effective treatments. Nanomedicine

provides a diverse platform of biocompatible and

biodegradable technologies for delivering traditional

chemotherapeutic medicines in vivo, boosting their

bioavailability and concentration surrounding tumor

tissues, as well as their release profile. Nanoparticles

can be used for a variety of purposes, from diagnostic

to therapy[2].

II. NATURAL ANTIOXIDANTS IN CANCER

THERAPY

Exogenous assaults to the human body, such

as ultraviolet (UV) rays, air pollution, and tobacco

smoke, cause the creation of reactive species,

particularly oxidants and free radicals, which are

responsible for the start of many diseases, including

cancer. These molecules can be formed as a result of

drug delivery in the clinic, but they can also be formed

spontaneously inside our cells and tissues by

mitochondria and peroxisomes, as well as macrophage

metabolism, during normal physiological aerobic

activities. DNA (genetic changes, DNA double strand

breaks, and chromosomal abnormalities) and other bio-

macromolecules, such as lipids (membrane

peroxidation and necrosis) and proteins (substantially

affecting the regulation of transcription factors and, as a

result, of important metabolic pathways) can be

damaged by oxidative stress and radical oxygen species

[3].

III. TARGETED THERAPY AND

IMMUNOTHERAPY

The low specificity of chemotherapeutic

medicines for cancer cells is one of the key difficulties

with conventional cancer treatments. In fact, most

medications have severe side effects because they act

on both healthy and sick organs.. Clinical Researchers

are working hard to figure out how to target only the

targeted site. Because of their enhanced permeability

and retention effect (EPR), nanoparticles have sparked

a lot of attention because of their tendency to aggregate

more in tumor tissues. The small size of nanoparticles,

as well as the leaky vasculature and poor lymphatic

drainage of neoplastic tissues, are used in this passive

targeting method[4]. Passive targeting, on the other

hand, is difficult to regulate and can result in multidrug

resistance (MDR)[5]. Active targeting, on the other

hand, improves tumor cell uptake by targeting specific

receptors that are overexpressed on the cells[6].

Nanoparticles, for example, can be functionalized with

ligands that attach to specific cells or subcellular

locations in an unambiguous manner[7] .

IV. GENE THERAPY FOR CANCER TREATMENT

Gene therapy entails inserting a healthy copy

of a faulty gene into the genome in order to treat a

specific condition[8]. A retroviral vector was used to

transfer the adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene to T-

cells in patients with severe combined

immunodeficiency (SCID) for the first time in 1990.

Further study revealed that gene therapy might be used

to cure a variety of human uncommon and chronic

diseases, as well as, most significantly, cancer..

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Approximately 2,900 gene therapy clinical trials are

now underway, with cancer accounting for 66.6 percent

of them[9]. Different strategies are under evaluation for

cancer gene therapy: 1) targeted silencing of oncogenes,

2) expression of pro-apoptotic and chemo-sensitising

genes 3) expression of genes able to solicit specific

antitumour immune responses and 4) expression of wild

type tumour suppressor genes.

V. THERMAL ABLATION AND MAGNETIC

HYPERTHERMIA

The term "thermal ablation of tumors" refers to

a set of procedures that use heat (hyperthermia) or cold

(hypothermia) to eliminate cancerous tissues[10]. Cell

necrosis is reported to occur at temperatures as low as -

40°C and as high as 60°C.. Cell necrosis is reported to

occur at temperatures as low as -40°C and as high as

60°C.Furthermore, cancer cells have been demonstrated

to be more susceptible to high temperatures than

healthy cells.

The production of ice crystals upon cooling

causes hypothermic ablation, which destroys cell

membranes and eventually kills cells.The chosen

cooling agent is argon gas, which may cool surrounding

tissues to -160°C.Also, because nitrogen has a higher

heat capacity than argon, gases at their critical point can

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be used. However, the technology for controlling and

directing them is still in its infancy[11].

VI. RADIOMICS AND PATHOMICS

The term "radiomics" refers to the high-

throughput quantification of tumor features based on

medical image analysis [12]. Pathomics, on the other

hand, is dependent on the creation and analysis of high-

resolution tissue images[13]. Many clinical research

projects are focusing on the development of novel

image processing techniques in order to extrapolate

information through quantification and disease

classification[14].To detect disease phenotypes, flexible

databases are necessary to accommodate large amounts

of data from gene expression, histology, 3D tissue

reconstruction (MRI), and metabolic characteristics

(positron emission tomography, PET)[15].

VII. CONCLUSION

In recent years, cancer research has made

significant progress toward more effective, precise, and

less intrusive cancer treatments.While nanomedicine in

combination with targeted therapy improved the

biodistribution of new or already tested

chemotherapeutic agents around the specific tissue to

be treated, additional techniques, such as gene therapy,

siRNA delivery, immunotherapy, and antioxidant

compounds, provide cancer patients with new

options.Thermal ablation and magnetic hyperthermia,

on the other hand, are potential alternatives to tumor

resection.Finally, radiomics and pathomics techniques

aid in the handling of large data sets generated by

cancer patients in order to enhance prognosis and

outcomes.

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