- About 19 million people globally have cancer, for which many will receive chemotherapy as a treatment.
- Chemotherapy does not always work for every type of cancer or person.
- Researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research found a tumor’s ability to respond to chemotherapy is driven by randomness.
- Scientists identified certain drugs that can help make chemotherapy more effective when used together.
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Many of those people received chemotherapy as a treatment for their cancer.
However, chemotherapy does not always work for every type of cancer or every person.
Researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia are reporting that a tumor‘s ability to respond to chemotherapy is driven by randomness.
Additionally, the scientists say they found combining chemotherapy with certain drugs could help chemotherapy be more effective against cancer cells that may eventually become resistant.
Their study was recently published in the journal Science Advances.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to target the growth of rapidly dividing cells, such as cancer cells. It can destroy cancer cells and stop them from making additional cells.
Some people may only receive chemotherapy, while others may receive chemotherapy in addition to other treatments such as radiotherapy and surgery.
There are a number of factors that may impact how successful a person’s chemotherapy treatment is. These include:
- where the tumor is located
- the type of cancer
- the stage of the cancer
- the person’s age and overall health
Additionally, sometimes a tumor may be
“Many hard-to-treat cancers become resistant to chemotherapy, sometimes even within a few weeks of starting treatment,” explained Dr. Santosh Kesari, a neuro-oncologist and director of neuro-oncology at Providence Saint…
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