Monday, April 16, 2012

Biological Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplants for Treating Cancer

There are dozens of different types of cancer. One of the most common in the US is a type called non-melanoma skin cancer. Conventional cancer treatment can include hormone therapy, surgery, chemotherapy,radiation and biological therapy. There are different types of methods to treat, the doctor may use one method or maybe a combination more than one of it, depending on the type, how severe it is and also the location of the cancer, whether the disease has spread, the patient’s age and general health, and other factors.

Here we shall discuss about the Biological Therapies and Bone Marrow Transplants.

What is Biological Therapy?

Biological therapies are related to the immune system, it helps it to function in a more effective way by using substances in our body thatare naturally available.This therapy may stimulate the body to make more of such naturally available substances to fight against cancer, or also it could also be a man-made version of the substance itself. The other alternative names of the Biological therapies include biological agents,biologics or immunotherapy, Biological Response Modifiers (BRS’s). Compared to chemotherapy, biological therapy concerned with the immune system which helps in fighting cancer, whereas Chemotherapy affects the cancer cells directly. Biologics used for the treatment include Bacillus Calmette-GuĂ©rin (BCG) which is for bladder cancer, Rituxan (Rituximab) treats non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Interleukin-2 (IL-2) for treating certain melanomas and kidney cancer and Herceptin (Trastuzumab) for breast cancer. There are many cancer centers in Philadelphia which has the best technology and team of professionals which provide the best treatment against cancer.


The main aim of this treatment is to improve this natural defense and its ability to fight cancer. The cancer centers in Philadelphiaas well do not completely understand how these therapies work to fight against cancer. The purpose of the treatment are to stop or slow the growth rate of the cancer cells, in turn this makes it easier for the immune system to destroy the effected cells. This hence becomes a natural process which prevents cancer from spreading to the other parts of the body.

What is Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplants?

The other effective treatment for cancer is the Bone Marrow and Stem cells treatment. Bone marrow is a spongy material found in the bones mainly in the pelvis bones. At their early stage, stem cells are blood cells, and all blood cells develop from stem cells. The bone marrow is made at the stem cells. There are 3 types of blood cells in our body –

  •     Red Blood Cells (RBC) which is responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body,
  •     White Blood Cells (WBC) which helps fighting infections and
  •     Platelets which prevents bleeding and helps in formation of blood clots.
When the cells are fully treated and matured, they are released into the bloodstream.

Doctors in Philadelphia cancer centers carries out a process in which they stimulate the stem cells to move from the bone marrow into the blood and this is done by giving either injections of Chemo drugs and proteins. This process is known as mobilizing stem cells. By this the stem cells can be collected from the blood or directly from the bone marrow.

Steps included in this treatment are –

  •     Chemotherapy
  •     Collecting the stem cells
  •     High-dose treatment
  •     Having the stem cell infusion
Both biological and bone marrow therapy are effective cancer treatment options.

No comments:

Post a Comment