The arsenal of targeted treatments for cancer has been witnessing a continuous development since the beginning of the new millennium, especially with the emergence of drugs that stop the mechanisms of tumor development.

They are weapons that are more accurate in destroying cancerous cells, selectively, without harming healthy cells.

Besides, there is also development in chemotherapy and the use of nanoparticles and robotics.

And writer Brigitte Fanny Cohen says - in a report published by the French newspaper "Le Figaro", that the drug "Trastuzumab", better known by its trade name "Herceptin", was one of the first treatments to be put on the market, and it is designed To counteract a specific target, the HER2 protein.

Dr. David Khayat, an oncologist in Paris, says, "In fact, 10% to 20% of breast tumors contain a mutation in this protein, which makes the disease more aggressive. Trastuzumab stops this protein, and thus stops the causes of fission and development of cancer cells." .

Khayat confirms that "this drug is very effective, and it allows to increase the hope of life and to obtain opportunities for treatment and recovery."

Research on metastatic colon cancer has also made great strides, as about 10 years ago it was not possible to identify more than one mutation in these tumors, and today, thanks to the development that scientists have achieved in the process of analyzing DNA sequences and genomic tests, it is possible to discover many of mutations, thus defining a more accurate and appropriate treatment for each patient's condition.

Dr. Khayat points out that these discoveries lead to long-term remission of the disease, with an increased possibility of achieving a full recovery.

Today, there are about 50 targeted therapies, which are used to treat about 20 types of cancer, including those that affect children.


Radiation therapy in the future

About half of all cancer patients undergo radiotherapy.

Significant achievements have recently been made in this field, and scientists have studied and evaluated its effectiveness, and confirmed that it is very encouraging.

In particular, attention is turning to the new generation of radiotherapy, which appears to be more effective and powerful thanks to nanoparticles.

"These infinitesimal particles, which are a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, are injected into the tumor," says Dr. Jean-Michel Venizel, President of the Saint Henri Hartmann Institute. X-rays. Thus, we can double the effectiveness of the treatment without increasing the amount of radiation to which a person is exposed.”

The writer points out that there has been an amazing development in the performance of radiotherapy machines, as it allows to locate the tumor, even if it is the size of a grain of rice and is hidden inside the brain or lung, and it does its job without affecting the tissues surrounding the tumor.

Thanks to tomography or magnetic resonance imaging technology, along with some computer software, the machine can target the tumor with unprecedented precision, radiating the least amount of radiation possible on the areas surrounding the injury, which provides the most effective treatment, with less collateral damage.

 Breast cancer.. Interesting genomic tests

For women with breast cancer, genomic testing represents a major development in this field, and it allows studying the genes of a tumor, to see if it is dangerous or not.

Then it can be determined whether chemotherapy with known side effects is necessary.

Towards a more precise surgery

The writer mentions that in recent years, robots have entered the surgical departments, and they have made it possible to improve the accuracy and quality of surgical interventions.

Professor Yann Nozier - from the Department of Urology at the French hospital "Foch" - says, "The most important development has taken place in the ability to identify and access cancerous tumors more accurately and effectively, especially with regard to prostate cancer, which is the most common type in Men".