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There is no "magic bullet" in the fight against cancer, but one step towards curing cancer is Immunotherapy. The generally accepted hypothesis is that the immune system is the best tool humans have for fighting disease. Immunotherapy is thought to be less toxic than current treatments, however it is rarely used by itself to treat cancer. There are limitations to the effectiveness of Immunotherapy; the normal immune system cannot sense tumor cells, the response from the immune system is not strong enough when the body does recognize tumor cells, and tumors can defend themselves. There are three types of Immunotherapy Passive, components of the immune system are engineered outside of the body to attack cancer cells; Active, stimulates the body's own immune system to fight cancer; and Combination, uses both passive and active activity. Passive Immunotherapy's use antibodies created outside of the body to provide immunity or help fight off a disease. One type of passive immunotherapy is Monoclonal antibody therapy (mAb), the most widely used form of immunotherapy. Active Immunotherapy work by stimulating the immune system to 'actively' respond to the disease. One type of active immunotherapy is Provenge, a therapeutic prostate cancer vaccine. Therapeutic cancer vaccines are given to patients with cancer to help stimulate the immune system to fight the cancer. Combination Therapy is still in clinical studies but is thought to have a greater potential than active or passive immunotherapy because it combines the activity of both therapies. Immunotherapy may not be the magic bullet to fighting cancer, but when used early and with other treatments it has proven effective.

Using the ISOpure computational purification tool, scientists and medical professionals can develop a prognosis and treatment plan for a certain cancer patients at a much quicker rate. The tool used in this process can help identify the cancerous tissue located in the organs and provide medical professionals further notice of the proportion of RNA originating from cancer cells allowing them to develop treatment plans ahead of time. ISOpure uses an algorithm which determines the proportion of RNA in the organ(s). The real challenges of developing these treatments is of course extracting a portion of tissue with both a normal profile and a cancer profile to predict the spread of the disease. After this portion of tissue has been extracted the ISOpure modeling can process the data using simple MATLAB software. The success of this computational tool is noted to improve the prediction of extra-prostatic-extension (EPE) by 10% in cancer profiles compared to the unpurified models. 

This essay explains the types of complications related to neurological conditions and how they effect the body. The first complication is of course related to the origination of brain tumors themselves. Brain metastases is caused by the spread of cancerous cells to brain from other areas of the body. Symptoms could include that of headaches to vision problems. The next topic of discussion is the Epidural Spinal Cord Compression. This is another type of metastases which can lead to spinal cord compression and possible paralysis. Common issues associated with this type of metastases include breast, prostate, or lung cancer. Additionally, Plexopathies are caused by the spread of cancer to the plexus. This type of complication causes serious pain and has the ability to migrate towards other areas of the plexus. Leptomeningeal Metastases is caused by the spread of cells to the tissues which cover the brain and spinal cord and could effect cognitive skills. Another complication is a vascular disorder. Vascular disorders and cancer are believed to correlate with a deep vein thrombosis. Finally, paraneoplastic disorder is a complication that is caused by a group of conditions which create biological side effects. These side effects include release of substances into the blood stream and inappropriate immune system responses.

Big new break through in the steps to curing cancer. Harvard Scientist have found a new drug combination that stops the growth of cancer and could be the answer to curing all cancer. Although the research isn't the cure from cancer its the start that is needed to find cancer. In order for the two drugs to work they must be given together. The two drug combination could possible cure most types of cancer but for some it could spell disaster.

In cancer cells good genes are turned off, while bad ones are turned on through a process called DNA Methylation. The good genes could suppress the cancer if the methyl groups suppressing the genes were removed. Soy Isoflavones, antioxidants found in anything made of soy flour, have been shown to reverse Methylation. This allows the good genes to become activated. This can not only help prevent cancer, but help improve the efficiency of existing treatments, radiation and chemotherapy. The prevention of methylation may also help slow the progression and spreading of cancer. Soy Isoflavones have virtually no negative side affects making them another useful tool in finding better ways to fight and cure cancer.

Lung cancer is able to metastasize quickly. Many lung cancer patients are missing an anti-cancer gene called LKB1. It was recently discovered that LKB1 is important because it sends instructions to a gene called DIXDC1, which keeps the cells in their place. The cancer either deletes LKB1 or takes control of DIXDC1. Scientists also found out that they were able to slow the spread of the cancer by reactivating DIXDC1. This means that patients missing either of these two genes would gain better results from newer therapies which focus on focal adhesion enzymes. 

A woman with a solitary fibrous cancer, the cancer is only seen a couple hundred times a year, was enrolled MI-ONCOSEQ which led to the discovery of the mutation that causes this cancer. Researchers at University of Michigan ran the tumors genome and identified a mutations. The mutation was unusual, a fusion between two genes, NAB2 and STAT6. Normally mutation are identified because of the they are seen over and over again. However, in this woman's case, there were no known mutations, so scientists looked at what had changed. Then 51 other samples of solitary fibrous tumors were tested for the mutation; all of them tested positive for the mutation. The NAB2-STAT6 fusion may prove hard to treat with target therapy, but scientists may be able to disrupt its growth cycle which leads to this fusion. More research still needs to be done to determine ways in which the knowledge of this mutations can be applied, but for now it is a great start at tackling these rare tumors.

If a mutation occurs in a person's genes it can cause cancer. The future of cancer therapy is identifying and targeting these mutations. A trial at the University of Florida, known as NSCABP-FC-7 takes the genetic fingerprint of a patients DNA and gives them a personalized treatment based on the information. The idea is to move away from the traditional cytotoxic treatment, and towards less toxic personalized medicine. However, the toxicity of cancer drugs is decreasing due to technology's increasing ability to target and destroy specific cells, and not healthy cells. Washington University St. Louis as well as other institutions have become part of the study. Overall, the future of cancer treatment lies in targeted therapies and personalized medicine.

Immunotherapy can be used to treat cancer by activating the body's immune system. One way to do this is by using Monoclonal Antibodies which stimulate a variety of immune responses that lead to tumor-cells death. Another type of immunotherapy is deactivating Checkpoint Inhibitors. These checkpoints help to make sure the immune system does not attack healthy cells; deactivating these checkpoints on cancer cells it allows the immune system to attack and has been effective in clinical trials. The third type of immunotherapy is Cytokines, which stimulates a broad immune response against a specific tumor antigen. The last type of immunotherapy is therapeutic cancer vaccines which stimulate the immune system to fight against a tumor's antigens. This is a durable response that tries to activate the immune system to fight the tumor cells. There are many ways immunotherapy can be used to help fight cancer.

Washington University School of Medicine and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital have teamed up to identify genetic mutations that cause pediatric cancer. There are over 600 patient's genes being analyzed. The tumor cells are compared to the patients healthy cells and the differences are recorded. The program is trying to identify a mutation that causes a healthy cell to turn into a cancerous one. This in turn can help scientists develop new treatments to help young cancer patients.

Pediatric patients are surviving their cancer and growing into adults. However, doctors are becoming increasingly concerned about the long-term health effects of the treatments that saved their patient's life. Many serious health conditions go undiagnosed because Doctors do not always think about the conditions that may effects pediatric cancer survivors. There was a study conducted with 1700 participants by St. Jude's Hospital. The participants were 10 years past their diagnosis and underwent lots of tests to determine any long-term conditions they might have. The average age of the study was 33. There are almost 400,000 pediatric cancer survivors and that number will grow. It is imperative to ensure follow up programs are in place and that doctors use minimal radiation.

Scientists at the Brigham and Women's Hospital as well as scientists at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute have been compiling and analyzing DNA from patients with tumors. The study using a program known as OncoMap, scanned for known mutations. In a new phase of the study, the program OncoPanel, is designed to recognize new mutations as well as previously known mutations. The goal of this study is to help locate these mutations which then could allow scientists to develop new forms of target therapy to combat cancer.

Proton therapy in a painless, noninvasive type of radiation to treat malignant tumors. It has been used successfully in against a variety of tumors and has fewer side affects then conventional photon therapy. Both Photon and Proton therapies work in the same ways by destroying cancer cells and preventing them from dividing. Proton therapy penetrates less healthy tissue than photon therapy. That means that proton therapy has fewer side effects and a faster recovery. Proton therapy needs time to grow. Costs for therapy rooms are falling, but many insurances do not cover proton therapy and many medical professionals need to be educated about and trained to use proton therapy. Overall proton therapy is a quickly becoming a more efficient, better way to treat cancer.

The cause of most cases of pediatric leukemia is not known, as most sufferers do not display any risk factors for the disease. However scientists have begun to understand how certain changes in DNA can cause leukemia. Cancer can be caused by mutation oncogenes, the genes that control when cells divide. A translocation between chromosomes 2 and 22 causes almost all cases of childhood chronic myeloid leukemia and childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia. Other genetic mutations can be inherited, however most of the mutations that cause leukemia develop after birth. Environmental factors, when combined with a genetic predisposition for leukemia, may trigger the disease. However the cause of most pediatric leukemia remains unknown.

This article goes on to explain two different types of tumors and then states how they start to spread. One of the types of tumors is the primary brain tumor which originates in the brain itself. This type of tumor begins as normal cells mutate their DNA and grow rapidly across the brain. The other type of brain tumor is the Secondary or Metastatic brain tumor. This type of tumor is generally caused by a metastasis of cancerous cells from other organs of the body. Most often this type of tumor originates in areas such as the breast and the colon. Of these two types of brain tumors the metastatic seems to be much more common than the primary tumors.

Although popularized by the media as "healthy," vaccinations bring more harm to the human body then they do health. Multiple studies have found that those children injected with vaccinations actually caught more disease than those not vaccinated. Vaccinations are not guaranteed to work, and can actually cause severe complications. Few vaccinations have been successful; these effective immunizations protect against one disease, but increase risk of other viruses. Vaccines contain harmful ingredients that can cause cancers and leukemia, and are even linked to AIDS. Vaccines are also connected to brain damage, lowered IQ, ADD, learning disabilities, and autism. Vaccinations are composed of harmful ingredients, are illogically produced, and cause more diseases than they prevent.

British scientists have recently restored sight to blind mice by the use of stem cells from mice embryos. These stem cells were put into a lab dish; there, they separated into immature photo-receptors. These were then injected into the mice's retinas, and actually brought sight back into some of the blind. This successful experiment makes scientists hopeful that they can restore sight to blind humans in the future. Although these cells can become very beneficial, they can also turn cancerous. New scientific advancements have bettered the stem cell procedure, but problems with the process are still arising.