Using Genetics to Treat Cancer

I found this article that talks about how doctors and researchers are trying to use genetics to treat cancer in patients. Researchers are now trying to understand the genetics of each cancer in hopes to be able to find better treatments or a possible cure. They are trying to find more genetic mutations that could lead to cancer. Scientists have been able to create genetics maps of the tumors to see where the abnormalities lie. They have found that certain cancers have the same genetic faults as each other while other cancers may have completely different faults. Right now researchers are working on a drug that they would give at a lose dose so it would leave healthy cells alone, but kill off the cancerous ones. Researchers want to get away from the "cutting and burning" aspect of cancer treatment.

If the research continues, doctors might be able to better tailor cancer treatments to the individual patients and their needs based on the type of cancer they have.  These types of treatments, if found that they work, would have many advantages to it. They could be more comfortable to the patient, instead of dealing with radiation and chemotherapy, which could lead to another form of cancer if used for long periods of time, patients would have a better less harsh approach since only the cancerous cells would be targeted and not every cell. They treatment would be more accurate as well. It wouldn't be as general as it is today.