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Kristen Harrell
Jenny Zimmerman
AP Literature
11/02/2015
The Newest Technologies in Cancer Research and Treatments
Finding, treating, and preventing cancer has been a standing issue for years. These days,
it is becoming easier and easier for doctors to do all of this with the newest technology and
medications in the oncology field. These advancements include imaging, medications, and many
other things. Although there have been many concerns in finding and testing these
advancements, there has been proof in how well all of this new technology works. Success rates
in treatment and prevention have skyrocketed since the new technology has been introduced to
the medical world. New treatments and medications for cancer care in the medical field are more
effective now than ever before.
Great new technology is in the imaging area. Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy
(or an ENB) uses a GPS-like system that goes into the body, finds the problematic area by
creating a type of road-map of your lungs, and allows the doctor to biopsy the lesion or tumor
(Pallay). Theres also low-dose CT scanning that are less expensive than normal CAT scans and
there is less radiation exposure for patients (Pallay). The CT scanning is mainly used when a
high-risk patient comes in, but can be used on everyone (Pallay). The CT scans are used for
these high-risk patients even before a patient has symptoms (Pallay). Low density CT scans
are thought to be the key for early detection for lung cancer, even though its still very new
(Pallay). The goal is to find this cancer early (Pallay). Another new imaging technology

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focuses on breast cancer-the PEM or PET (known as a Positron Emission
Mammography/Tomography) (Pallay). The PET isnt a brand new system. Its been used for all
types of cancers, but it has been used for breast cancer for only about seven years (Pallay).
This technology demonstrates how tissue behaves and allows doctors to determine whether it is
cancer behavior or normal breast tissue behavior (Pallay). A PEM can detect tumors as small
as 1mm (Frangioni). The PET scan is different from the MRI. The PET shows the cancer
through a new perspective-the PET shows how the cells are acting (Pallay). An MRI is only
used to show differences in blood flow (Pallay). Another imaging technology is the Oncotype
DX. This system is used for early-stage breast cancer (Beil). The Oncotype DX tell doctors if a
patient could or could not benefit from chemotherapy (Beil). The test tracks the behavior of
twenty-one different genes (Beil). This test is made to tell the odds in which breast cancer would
come back (Beil). This is great because if they can tell if a cancer will come back, then the
doctors can alter the patients treatments. Another imaging technique is using a threedimensional mammogram. This new technique uses no more [of a] radiation dose than from a
two-view mammogram (Frangioni). Along with an iodine contrast, the 3-D mammogram had
shown things even better than without it. So, this this all goes to show you that the imaging
sources are booming, but they are not the only advancements in the oncology field.
Newer medications for treating cancer have been and are being tested. One new
discovery is bisphosphonates. Bisphosphonates are drugs that are used to help strengthen and
reduce the risk of fractures in bones that have been weakened by metastatic breast cancer

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(Whats New). There is also Fenretinide (a retinoid). Fenretinide reduces breast cancer risk
almost as much as Tamoxifen (Whats New). Something else that is being tested is a vaccine
for cancer. While cancer is by no means infectious, scientists and doctors have been researching
and testing a new method to increase the amount of cancer survivors (von Hofe). This new
vaccine is Provenge (von Hofe). While Provenge is not a cure for cancer, it has lead us in the
right direction in hopes of finding one. This new therapeutic cancer vaccine trains the body to
recognize and destroy malignant cancer cells, even after treatment is complete (von Hofe).
When taken with chemotherapy, radiation, and even surgical treatments (von Hofe). Provenge,
and other similar drugs, can subdue cancer (von Hofe), and the side effects are no worse than
a bad cold (von Hofe). There are also new medications that target cancer cells and prevent
growth (von Hofe). These medications are taken along with surgery, chemotherapy, and/or
radiation, depending on the course of a patients treatment (von Hofe). These drugs go by the
names of Herceptin, Gleevec, Perjeta, and Avastin (von Hofe) (Whats New). Avastin is a
different type of medication, though. It is known as an anti-angiogenesis drug. Angiogenesis is
the process where blood vessels develop in order to nourish the cancer cells (Whats New).
Avastin stops the blood vessels from growing and feeding the cancerous cells (Whats New).
These medicines are breakthroughs that have been tested for years and years, and theyre causing
amazing results in the cancer field. But there are other techniques in the oncology field, such as
immunotherapy treatments, and even stem cell research.

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Different treatments are being tested daily. Treatments that are unlike imaging and
medications. One treatment being tested is using stem cells. Using millions (depending on how
extensive the tumor is) of genetically engineered stem cells are supposed to demolish tumors
(Dolgin). Tumors have a type of protein that they naturally release that brings in stem cells
(Dolgin). Stem cells are built to form into any type of cell in the body, so when they are attracted
to tumor cells, they typically from into tumor cells themselves (Dolgin). The engineered stem
cells are injected, and then the patient must take what is called a pro-drug (Dolgin). The prodrug,
known as flucytosine, is taken for a week long after each two-week injection of the stem cells.
Prodrugs are pharmacologically inactive chemicals that the body can metabolized to produce
into a drug (Dolgin). This basically means that once metabolized, they activate inside your
body. When these specific prodrugs activate, they interact with the engineered stem cells, and
turn into a cancer-destroying poison (Dolgin). Stem cell research is not the only different
advancement being tested. More immunotherapy treatments are being prescribed daily. These
new treatments may allow us to make significantly more progress against the later stages of
cancer than we have been able to achieve in recent decades (Wolchok). This therapy goes by the
name of CTLA-4, a protein that when triggered, works with other proteins to prevent the
immune system from becoming overly destructive (Wolchok). This may not seem important,
but it is. James Allison, an oncologist working at the University of California, thought that if
CTLA-4 naturally attacked bad things in the immune system (e.g. cancer cells), then why
wouldnt it produce a more vigorous attack after its been temporarily disabled (Wolchok)?
For the longest time, Allison and some of his colleagues tested this theory on mice (Wolchok).

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The mices tumors successfully shrank, so the next step was to test the blockers on people
(Wolchok). Which, after profuse and careful testing, proved to be successful, and is now a
medication called MDX-010, or ipilimumab (Wolchok). CTLA-4 is not the only system-braking
molecule (Wolchok). PD-1 is another protein quite similar to CTLA-4. However, PD-1
compels the bad cells to destroy themselves (Wolchok). But, of course, all of these new
treatments and detections dont go without their fair share of side effects.
Side effects and safety concerns are completely normal and expected things in the
medical world. Without them, wed be doing things all wrong. A safety concern for the stem-cell
treatments include the risk of the engineered stem cells turning into actual cancer cells
themselves, considering that stem cells are naturally built to transform into all different types of
cells (Dolgin). So far, that has not been seen in the trial patients, which is a good sign (Dolgin).
For the CTLA-4 protein, an effect of it is the fact that in order for the process to work better, the
tumors enlarge and then shrink. It seems weird, but bigger tumors might . . . mean that the
treatment is actually working (Wolchok). Other side effects of the immunotherapies such as
CTLA-4 and PD- include inflammatory reactions on the skin and large intestine (Wolchok).
These reactions are caused by immune cells releas[ing] an overabundance of excitatory
chemicals (Wolchok). These flare-ups can cause cramping and even diarrhea (Wolchok).
Typically, patients that take PD-1 have these reactions in the kidneys, lungs, and liver, but they
have been seen less frequently and they are not reported as to have as much severity as CTLA4 patients (Wolchok). With all of these side effects and safety concerns, people tend to forget
about all of the successes that come with all of this new technology.

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All of these new advancements have got to have success rates, right? Well, of course they
do. From the drugs to the imaging systems, each individual technological advancement has its
own individual set of successes. The ENB imaging networks have been catching lung cancer
early. In the third quarter of 2012, diagnosing percentages were at forty-four percent, and in the
fourth quarter, it grew to fifty-eight percent (Pallay). Continuing the pattern, the first quarter of
2013 grew to sixty-two and a half percent (Pallay). During the beginning of 2012, seventeen
percent of cases were diagnosed at first and second stages of cancer and then eighty-three
percent with cases of third and fourth stages of cancer (Pallay). The second half of 2012, using
the ENB, first and second stage cancers were diagnosed with thirty-five percent of cases,
meaning that the number of surgery-possible cases doubled (Pallay). With the medications like
Herceptin and Gleevec, the average, five-year survival rate for invasive cancers as a group has
risen from fifty percent to sixty-six percent in the past thirty-plus years (von Hofe). For the
vaccine against cancer, there are not specific success rates, but evidence from the research and
clinical trials over the past couple of years is providing us with hope that these therapeutic
cancer vaccines, along with chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, will bring us one step closer
to preventing cancer (von Hofe). And that is a success on its own. Going back to the CTLA-4
protein, a growing tumor may seem like an odd success, but patients reported feeling better
(Wolchok). The tumors just needed time to grow, and then decrease into much smaller tumors
(Wolchok). For the most recent clinical trials, a little over twenty percent of patients with
metastatic melanoma . . . demonstrate long-term control of their disease (Wolchok). With a PD1 and CTLA-4 safety study, fifty percent of patients treated . . . showed tumors shrinking by

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half their original size (Wolchok). The only side effects that were seen could be simply treated
with corticosteroids (Wolchok).
All-in-all, new treatments and medications for cancer care in the medical field are more
effective now than ever before. These advancements range from imaging for detection to
medicines for treatment. These newest technologies are helping cancer patients everywhere with
all kinds of cancers (e.g. brain tumors, breast cancer, lung cancer, etc.). These new technologies
are thought very highly of, and each oncologist involved is hopeful and very pleased with the
possibilities and successes of each of their tests and products.

Frangioni, John V. "New Technologies for Human Cancer Imaging." Journal of Clinical
Oncology (2008): n. pag. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654310>.
Von Hofe, Eric. "A New Ally against Cancer." MAS Complete. NC Wiseowl, n.d. Web.
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-live>.
Wolchok, Jedd D. "Cancer's Off Switch." MAS Complete. NC Wiseowl, May 2014. Web.
06 Oct. 2015.

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