Current cancer treatments often use more aggressive methods, such as high-dose chemotherapy, to try to remove as much of the tumor cells as possible. However, the chances of completely getting rid of cancer are very slim, and the toxic side effects caused by chemotherapy are extremely destructive, which may not only cause hair loss, nausea and extreme fatigue, but also may weaken the immune system or cause anemia.
Some experts believe that high-dose chemotherapy may aggravate cancer, because it actually introduces a natural selection pressure to help drug-resistant tumor cells proliferate more, so if the cancer recurs, it will have fatal consequences. The new strategy proposed by scientists is to prevent drug-resistant tumor cells from gaining proliferation. This treatment stabilizes the tumor as a whole by allowing a small number of drug-sensitive tumor cells to survive.
The research team led by Dr. Robert Gatenby from the H Lee Moffitt Cancer Centre and Research Institute in the United States tested the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel. They used this drug to treat mice with two breast cancers.
The results show that standard chemotherapy can initially shrink the tumor in mice, but once treatment is stopped, the tumor will come back. However, if high doses of chemotherapy are followed, followed by conventional lower doses of chemotherapy, tumor growth can be controlled.
In fact, this treatment is very effective, and most mice eventually stop taking the drug completely, and the cancer does not recur for a long time. In a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, Dr. Gattenby said: "Our results show that this adaptive treatment strategy can adapt to clinical imaging diagnosis and ultimately prolong breast cancer. No worsening survival (the average time between the onset of the drug and the patient's tumor in the cancer clinical trial to detect an increase or deterioration in the instrument)."
“Finally, we pointed out that the principles guiding the evolution of adaptive therapy may be equally applicable to other methods of treating breast cancer, including hormone therapy and immunotherapy, although more tests are needed in these methods.”
Rachel Rawson, a senior clinical care expert at the charity Breast Breast Care, said the researchers' treatment was "an exciting way to explore."
“Improving the effects of treatment while reducing serious side effects can greatly improve the lives of breast cancer patients. This is a very exciting way to explore,” she added. “Chemotherapy may mean that women are going to be weak. Fatigue, and because of the long hair loss, the mood will be extremely low, making them struggle every day."
“However, there is still a long way to go before the study goes from mouse to human clinical practice. Moreover, we have to reassure all concerned that the treatments currently used are already in the thousands of patients. The body has achieved success." (Ren Tian)
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