Although the progess in new cancer treatment had been slow the past decade, many exciting developments are on the way that might change the face of cancer treatment and survival in the next five years, says Dr Albrecht, cancer specialist and research coordinator of the SA Cancer Association.
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Currently, treatment mainly consists of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormonal treatments. Treatment is usually decided upon after many factors have been considered, says Ayesha Sassman, information officer of the Cancer Association of SA. Age, state of health and the extent of the cancer are all factors to be considered.
The treatment of the future, according to Dr Albrecht, will become much more proactive than the reactive treatment currently used. Chemo-prevention is on the cards and the cancer cure of the future was very likely to be early (even pre-cancer) drug treatment. According to Albrecht these will be particularly affective in the treatment of cancer that appears to be hormonally-related, such as breast cancer, and not always lifestyle-related.
In a recent American study Tamoxifen was used on a large group of women volunteers. Tamoxifen blocks oestrogen receptors in the breasts and reduced the incidence of breast cancer by 40 percent in the group of women who took part in the study.
In a few years' time, it will be possible to read DNA in order to predict a person's likelihood of developing cancer with a fair amount of accuracy. While cancer cannot be prevented using this method, it can be caught in its earliest stages, because the patient is on the lookout for the earliest tell-tale signs, Albrecht said.
The most effective treatment is prevention. People need to become aware of how an unhealthy lifestyle and diet can impact on their future health - and take some action before it is too late, according to Albrecht.
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