Forcing cancer into submission


Have you ever assisted a goal when scoring in a game? Or set a trap in the hopes to capture an animal? In the recent Nature article: Springing an evolutionary trap on cancer, Charles Y. Lin describes how - in an alley-oop like fashion - cancers evade the first drug allowing the second drug to defeat cancer.

 Cancer is a complex topic and requires explanation, there are over 100 types (E.g. Breast cancer, Liver cancer or Lung cancer) of cancer so it can be hard to generalize. 
A single cell can form a tumor, cells can spread to form tumors at other sites
A tumor is a bundle of 'cancer cells' that have uncontrollably divided. Typically this starts as one cell that has 'gone rogue'. In some cases 'metastasis' occurs where cells spread from the original tumor location to other locations around the body, forming multiple tumors. This type of cancer is defined as metastatic cancer - with the other type being benign tumors that cannot spread.
Cancer cells are known to adapt, even under the extreme pressures that treatment regimes apply (E.g. chemotherapy). On some occasions, cancer cells are able to adapt and resist therapy, these adaptive features render cancer as one of the most challenging disease of all time. Some cells may be left post-treatment and allow the cells left to thrive in a state of resistance, slowly securing therapy resistance. Now you have an understanding of what Cancer is, you can understand that cancer is hard to be beaten by conventional treatment regimes. Examples of these include one or a combination of: chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy.
Example of a response cancer can have to chemotherapy. Slowly securing therapy resistance.
The adaptable features some cancers maintain, have recently been exposed and discussed as a great weakness of cancer cells. Forcing cancer to adapt by directing it allows for anticipate how cancer cells will respond post-therapy. For example: Treatment A, directs the tumor state and Treatment B is able to successfully eliminate the tumor from the patient. 

 Here we will delve into the genetics and a clear example. 
Cancers uncontrolled division over time
Changes in DNA can cause uncontrolled cell division consequently cause cancer. DNA is made-up of segments known as genes, so which genes are prone to changes that cause cancer?

 There are many - but for this example I will use Gatekeeper genes which play a vigilant role of checking for cell death and division. Mutations altering these genes lead to irregular growth. There are different gatekeeper genes for different cell types. 

Reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-020-0608-3 

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