Research
Targeted cancer therapy - going specifically after cancer but not hitting the normal tissue - is a promising therapeutic approach.
Unfortunately, contrary to its name, most targeted therapy efforts focus on primary cancer, and on targets that are also expressed in normal
tissue and not associated with metastatic disease. Most success comes with a significant decrease in quality of life for the patient and is
temporary as the cancer returns in an even more resistant and deadly new form.
The Problem
When properly applied, targeted cancer therapy can work, and eventually, it will. How? By identifying new and better cancer targets not present in normal tissue and in the cancer cells that truly drive the disease. Malignant cells with stem cell properties can spread through the body and become resistant to existing therapies.
The Solution
There is a growing body of scientific evidence that aggressive cancers - the bad ones that metastasize and cause death - occur as a cellular reprogramming disease. Under genetic or environmental stress, normal cells undergo cellular reprogramming and start to de-differentiate into more primitive cells. Eventually, if the stressed cells revert backward sufficiently to acquire the biochemical properties of embryonic stem cells. These transformed and now cancerous cells are then able to spread and cause death. These malignant stem cells are the origin and cause of aggressive cancer. The ability to kill these cells should result in improved treatments and cures for many affected patients.