Sometimes, the world seems to be losing the war against cancer, with seemingly more and more people being struck by the disease each year. Even the quest for new and better treatments appears stalled as well. But researchers say that’s not the case. As a matter of fact, many of them note that doctors are no longer automatically turning towards traditional chemotherapy to treat their patients. Instead, the new and better “targeted” therapies are often the answer when it comes to curing – or, at least, stalling – the disease.

A story on CBS This Morning notes that these precision treatments could eventually mark the end of the use of chemotherapy drugs, which are brutal on the body and often produce side effects that are seemingly worse than the cancer itself. The targeted treatments, on the other hand, do indeed have some side effects, but they are rarely severe and don’t include those that patients fear most, such as hair loss, nerve damage, and infections due to low blood cell counts.

Many liken the different between chemotherapy and targeted treatments as that of a bomber versus a sniper. The first has a devastating impact on whatever happens to be nearby. The other offers a precise solution to the problem.

Doctors say the targeted therapies have showed great promise in the treatment of several kinds of cancer thus far, especially leukemia and lung cancer. As a matter fact, in some cases, the results have been “dramatic”, the report noted.

“The best example is a disease called chronic myelogenous leukemia, CML,” says Mark Kris, thoracic oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City. “That disease was treated with a traditional chemotherapy or a bone-marrow transplant…a very large dose of chemotherapy. The bone marrow had to be replaced. People now with that illness are given a tablet, and they take a tablet, and many of these people appear to be cured…not just helped, but cured.”

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.