Experimental cancer treatments are normally available only to people who participate in formal research programs, which are called clinical trials.
The twin goals of research are to determine whether the treatment actually works (called efficacy) and whether it is sufficiently safe.
In organized studies of new treatments for cancer, the pre-clinical development of drugs, devices, and techniques begins in laboratories, either with isolated cells or in small animals, most commonly rats or mice.
Chemotherapeutic drugs have a hard time penetrating tumors to kill them at their core because these cells may lack a good blood supply.
[4] Several drug therapies are being developed based on p53, the tumour suppressor gene that protects the cell in response to damage and stress.
[5][6][7] As p53 protein levels are usually kept low, one could block its degradation and allow large amounts of p53 to accumulate, thus stimulating p53 activity and its antitumour effects.
[10] BI811283 is a small molecule inhibitor of the aurora B kinase protein being developed by Boehringer Ingelheim for use as an anti-cancer agent.
As of 2010[update], BI 811283 is currently in the early stages of clinical development and is undergoing first-in-human trials in patients with solid tumors and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
Recent research works suggest itraconazole (ITZ) could also be used in the treatment of cancer by inhibiting the hedgehog pathway in a similar way to Sonidegib.
Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene activity that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence, often a result of environmental or dietary damage to the histone receptors within the cell.
[22] It has been shown that the epigenetic control of the proto-onco regions and the tumor suppressor sequences by conformational changes in histones directly affects the formation and progression of cancer.
[24] Some investigators, like Randy Jirtle, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center, think epigenetics may ultimately turn out to have a greater role in disease than genetics.
Currently, inositol hexaphosphate, which is available over-the-counter, is undergoing testing in cancer research due to its telomerase-inhibiting abilities.
[26] A number of research groups have experimented with the use of telomerase inhibitors in animal models, and as of 2005 and 2006 phase I and II human clinical trials are underway.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is generally a non-invasive treatment using a combination of light and a photosensitive drug, such as 5-ALA, Foscan, Metvix, padeliporfin (Tookad, WST09, WST11), Photofrin, or Visudyne.
Intense heating will cause denaturation and coagulation of cellular proteins, rapidly killing cells within a tumour.
Lasers are then used that pass harmlessly through the body, but heat the nanotubes, causing the death of the cancer cells.
In this way, the laser light can pass through the system without harming healthy tissue, and only diseased cells, where the nanoparticles reside, get hot and are killed.
A great deal of current research focuses on precisely positioning heat delivery devices (catheters, microwave, and ultrasound applicators, etc.)
using ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging, as well as of developing new types of nanoparticles that make them particularly efficient absorbers while offering little or no concerns about toxicity to the circulation system.
[34] Another method that is entirely non-invasive referred to as Tumor Treating Fields has already reached clinical trial stage in many countries.
Successful trials have shown the process effectiveness to be greater than chemotherapy and there are no side-effects and only negligible time spent away from normal daily activities.
HIFU has been successfully used to treat cancer to destroy tumours of the bone, brain, breast, liver, pancreas, rectum, kidney, testes, and prostate.