Cancer Information

Cancer Research

Cancer research is inclined towards identifying the causes and developing strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatments and cure. The basic idea behind the research is to study the cancer facts available from the clinical observations and enter into basic research for further development of the preventive and detective treatments. The mouse is used as mammalian model to experiment the functions of genes which are responsible for tumor formation. Cancer arises when a single cell changes so that it divides continuously, released from the controls that constrain the replication of normal cells. This transformation results from changes in the function and activity of genes.

Cancer treatment research is basically known for finding out various ways to treat the cancer symptoms in a way to wipe it out from the infected body. We know that cancer is not the only disease which needs a cure, but there are at least 100 different diseases which share certain similar features. As a result it is unlikely that one magic bullet will solve the problem. Cancer is a multistage process and hence analysis of risk factors leads to the development of prevention and control strategies. Also early detection methods and its related precise treatments are being researched. Some of the treatments so far invented are listed below:

* Anti cancer vaccine
* Chemotherapy
* Photodynamic therapy
* Radiation Therapy
* Targeted Therapy

Identifying new onco-genes or tumor suppressor genes is the primary focus of oncogenomics which may provide an insight into cancer diagnosis, envisaging clinical outcome of cancers and new targets for cancer therapies. One of the reasons for cancer causing mutations is several hereditary factors. The functions of various oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes can be interrupted at different stages of tumor progression by adopting one of the above mentioned treatments.

Dietary changes can also be adopted which lower the cancer risks. Some of the examples of dietary changes are limiting fat consumption, increasing fiber intake, eating lots of raw fruits and vegetables, switching from red meat to sea food, switching from animal based diet to a plant based diet, eating more soy products, eating foods containing calcium, eating a diet high in antioxidants, drinking less alcohol, etc.

There are certain cancer research centers working continuously towards inventing new therapies for curing the disease. These centers initiate the basic research; understand the effects of tumor formation and finds ways for their prevention and curing. Some of them are as follows:

* Cancer Research Foundation
* Cancer Research Institute, Inc.
* Cancer Research UK (leading cancer research centre)
* Gateway for Cancer Research

Tags: cancer facts, cancer research centre, Cancer treatment research