New, Potential Treatments For Brain Tumors
When a person is diagnosed with a brain tumor, it can often be a worrisome and frightening diagnosis to hear. Many people fear that brain tumors are inevitably terminal because of their location. However, this does not have to be the case. There are numerous established treatment options available for brain tumors such as chemotherapy infusion, radiation therapy, and surgery. Additionally, there are numerous potential new treatments for brain tumors that show potential in treating brain tumors that may not be responsive to conventional treatments. Get to know some of these potential, new treatment options so that you can give them a try when they are widely available or so that you can apply to be a part of the clinical trials.
CAR T-Cell Therapy
One of the newer possible treatments for brain tumors is an infusion treatment that was originally developed to treat other forms of cancer such as lymphoma. However, in recent testing, it has been shown that it may also be a highly effective treatment option for brain tumors that are not responsive to other conventional treatments.
CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy. CAR stands for chimeric antigen receptor, and the treatment relies on the collection of T-cells from the body. These T-cells are a natural part of a person's immune system. However, once the T-cells are collected, they are changed in the laboratory to have chimeric antigen receptors on the surface of the cell which help the T-cells to seek out and attack the tumor cells in the body.
Essentially CAR T-cell therapy is a way to reprogram the immune system to fight cancer cells and tumors itself. The treatment is administered via infusion (through an IV), and the CAR T-cells immediately start seeking out tumor cells. This treatment is still in clinical trials to determine if the results found in previous cases can be duplicated and if the treatment is safe for a wide array of patients.
Modified Salmonella Targeted Therapy
Scientists and researchers are also working on therapies for cancer that put to use viruses and bacteria that already invade the human body on their own. In the case of one of the most recent treatment breakthroughs, these researchers have modified the bacteria known as Salmonella typhimurium so that it can be used as a targeted therapy for a type of brain tumor known as a glioblastoma.
Essentially, scientists genetically altered the Salmonella typhimurium bacterium to keep it from causing a general illness in the body and to make it seek out a tumor in the body. Once the bacteria finds the tumor, it embeds itself inside of the tumor cells and sends a signal to the tumor to destroy itself. Once those signals are sent out through the tumor, the tumor cells should start breaking down, and as the bacteria moves through the tumor and seeks out all of those cancerous cells, the tumor begins to shrink.
This treatment option is still in early clinical trials using rats as the primary test subjects. However, the initial findings look good, and researchers hope to continue to move the trials forward. Keep an eye out for future human trials and availability of this treatment option.
Now that you know more about some of the new and innovative treatment options for brain tumors, you can be sure that you keep up with the research and apply for any clinical trials that may be able to help you in your fight against brain cancer. For more information, visit a medical clinic like Idaho Arthritis Center.