Cancer remains as one of the leading causes of death all over the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that cancer causes nearly one out of every six deaths and it is expected to rise up by 70% in the next decade. Fortunately with the advent of technology, new medical innovations have emerged to provide better cancer management for patients.

Towards AI technology

Artificial intelligence has been a very big help in the improvement of mankind’s life and it has done so much in the field of health care. Recently, Microsoft announced that it has built a laboratory designed just to cure cancer and Artifical Intelligence has been the center of it all. From machine learning to natural language processing, from computer vision to self-learning algorithms, several AI platforms have been producing great yield in the detection and cure of cancer. And the discovery doesn’t stop there. The medical field utilizes AI in the pursuit of unlocking even more applications and even better treatments of cancer.

Nanoscale devices

Nanoscale devices are very small devices ranging from 100 to 10,000 times smaller than human cells. Because of their size, they can creep up to even the tiniest spaces between the body tissues where the cancer cells often reside and spread. Researchers have invented a method of detecting even the tiniest tumors with the help of these nanoscale devices leading to earlier cancer detection and more accurate treatments. The nanoscale devices would transmit nanoprobes into the bloodstream which are proven to be more accurate than common cancer surveillance technologies. With the help of nanotechnology, tumors can now be treated more accurately because we can now pinpoint the exact location of the cancer.

Isolate the problem

Just recently, researchers have developed the CAR-T cell therapy which stands for chimeric antigen receptor therapy. Basically this therapy isolates and extracts the patient’s T-cells and reengineers those cells to search and destroy cancer cells once they are injected back into the body. Aside from targeting the main root of the cancer, there are also several medical advancements that treat most of the symptoms and discomfort especially during the chemo process itself. Companies such as Aurora Direct are creating products that help patients take more control in their battle with cancer and distribute products that relief them from the pain during chemotherapy. Products such as Chemo Mouthpiece can help prevent oral mucositis during chemotherapy.

Fund for transformation

Cancer research facilities all over the world have been granting funds to several practitioners in order to develop feasible and innovative means to cure cancer. The Cancer Research Institute awarded a $1 million grant to Dr. Dongeun Huh to develop a microchip-based research model that mimics human cancer and immune cell interactions. The model will allow researchers to study the behavioral patterns of cancer cells when interacting with each other and the key components of the immune system that involve with cancer elimination. It would also serve as a screening platform to help test the effectiveness of new cancer treatment drugs.

Blood tests

Liquid biopsies are a common process of assessing mutations and changes in the DNA shed from tumors in the blood which provide better insights into the early signs of cancer. In a report released in early 2018, Research and Markets projects the global liquid biopsy market to cross the $5 billion mark by the end of 2023. More recently, this revolutionary cancer detection method has continued to be a useful tool for routine cancer screenings and a feasible alternative to tumor biopsy.