- Feb 26, 2015
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For members and family members suffering with cancer.
Scientists in B.C. are helping to develop a new way of treating cancer by using a patient's DNA to come up with a customized treatment plan.
4 excellent videos on this site:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/b-c-doc...ents-1.2583777
For four years, Leslie LaForest was being treated for her anal cancer using a traditional method. But in March, doctors found out that her cancer had spread; one tumour in her body was the size of a golf ball.
Doctors at the agency took a biopsy, looking for any genetic mutations in her cancer cells that aren't in her normal cells. They soon discovered that her cancer had a weakness, and found a drug, still in development, that could interfere with her tumour's growth.
"This lymph node -- which was about the size of a golf ball, or a little larger -- is now all down to scar tissue," Dr. Janessa Laskin told her during a recent appointment.
In another case.
Doctors used the patient's DNA analysis to determine that her incurable colon cancer could potentially be treated with a common blood pressure drug.
Tests revealed a specific protein was acting as a driving force behind her cancer. She was subsequently put on a blood pressure medication that blocks the protein. Within a few weeks, tests found that her cancer was barely detectable.
Her cancer is still in remission..
Scientists in B.C. are helping to develop a new way of treating cancer by using a patient's DNA to come up with a customized treatment plan.
4 excellent videos on this site:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/b-c-doc...ents-1.2583777
For four years, Leslie LaForest was being treated for her anal cancer using a traditional method. But in March, doctors found out that her cancer had spread; one tumour in her body was the size of a golf ball.
Doctors at the agency took a biopsy, looking for any genetic mutations in her cancer cells that aren't in her normal cells. They soon discovered that her cancer had a weakness, and found a drug, still in development, that could interfere with her tumour's growth.
"This lymph node -- which was about the size of a golf ball, or a little larger -- is now all down to scar tissue," Dr. Janessa Laskin told her during a recent appointment.
In another case.
Doctors used the patient's DNA analysis to determine that her incurable colon cancer could potentially be treated with a common blood pressure drug.
Tests revealed a specific protein was acting as a driving force behind her cancer. She was subsequently put on a blood pressure medication that blocks the protein. Within a few weeks, tests found that her cancer was barely detectable.
Her cancer is still in remission..
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