CHEMOTHERAPY

Chemotherapy

On of the things I always find amazing is chemotherapy well I think all the medicine’s achievements are really important and amazing but today I focus in chemotherapy.

During the 1990s the famous chemist German Ehrlich set about developing drugs to treat infectious diseases. He was the one who coined the term “chemotherapy” and defined it as the use of chemicals to treat cancer.

How the chemotherapy works?

Well, normally your cells grow and die in a controlled way. Cancer cells keep forming without control. Chemotherapy is drug therapy that can kill these cells or stop them from multiplying. However, it can also harm healthy cells, which causes side effects. During chemotherapy you may have no side effects or just a few. The kinds of side effects you have depend on the type and dose of chemotherapy you get. Side effects vary, but common ones are nausea, vomiting, tiredness, pain and hair loss. Healthy cells usually recover after chemotherapy, so most side effects gradually go away.

Advances in Chemotherapy Dramatically Increase

Scientific research at UC Irvine has breached a new barrier. Specifically, two UCI scientists and their team have made significant advancements in the field of cancer treatment. Dr. Richard Robertson, Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, have developed a system to deliver chemotherapy drugs to the site of interest with more precision.

Specifically, a protein from the malaria microorganism Plasmodium was bonded to liposomes that have been inserted with the cancer chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin for delivery to the liver. The precision generated by their method is significant because doxorubicin is highly toxic to some normal organs, including the heart.

At the point that cancer is one of the leading causes of death, this breakthrough is definitely one welcomed with open arms

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