Thursday 22 August 2013

Cancer Research & The Idea Of Drivers

By Rob Sutter


Futurity.org posted an article talking about the idea of cancer research and I was drawn to it. It talked about the concept of drivers and how they are connected to any kind of tumor, whether in the brain or what have you. When you take down a driver, you bring down the condition that accompanies it but it is one of those that are far more complicated when you're talking about glioblastoma. Why is it that this condition is seen as one of the most important in the field?

Glioblastoma is recognized in cancer research for a number of reasons but its prevalence is perhaps one of the most important aspects. It is not only the most common type of growth seen in the brain but it is also the most aggressive. Add in the fact that it is a complex growth and it is clear as to why organizations like Voices against Brain Cancer have placed so much focus on it. Where does the idea of "drivers" come into play, you may wonder?

The article went into detail about glioblastoma and how 15 percent of related cases can be assisted with different drugs, each of them approved by the FDA. As a result, there's a level of safety that is tied into them and the body can become helped by them. However, consider the fact that glioblastoma growths, or any related to the brain, have certain levels of complexity to speak of. This means that placing focus on all "drivers" is not the simplest task that can be gone about.

The Columbia University Medical Center performed a study and it was able to incorporate a few ideas, too. There was a tandem of high throughput DNA sequencing along with statistical analysis and it was able to bring the best kinds of results to the table. Driver candidates were put together in a list and it was able to help research immensely, as you can imagine. Seeing as how 140 tumor types were looked into, there was no limit as far as scope was concerned.

When it comes to cancer research in general, though, scope should be an important factor. After all, it is the type of component needed in order to bring the best kinds of results to the surface. You never want to limit the potential of results being founded and I feel as though this is what was kept in mind when this study was done. The "drivers" in question are very important when it comes to finding potential cures and I hope that more is done with them in mind.




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