(no subject)

[timelets]

Важным побочным положительным результатом пандемии Covid19 станет победа над основными раковыми заболеваниями (ImunOncology) в течении ближайших 10-15 лет. Наверное, это будет выглядеть примерно так же, как победа над смертностью от диабета и сердечно-сосудистых болезней. Рак мозга останется, к сожалению.

Comments

[dmm]

Расскажите подробнее, если можно.

[timelets]

Fundamentally, most cancers develop because our immune system misses a number of opportunities to kill certain mutated cells. As the cells replicate, proliferate and form tissues in susceptible organs, they create multi-level defenses against the immune system. By the time we detect cancerous growth, it's already late in a sense that the current medical methods of dealing with cancer cells and tissues are too crude to apply them selectively, i.e. without affecting healthy cells and tissues. Right now, treating cancer necessarily involves harming the rest of the body and more importantly, damaging the immune system, e.g. through chemotherapy, etc. As a result, we create a large population of people whose immune system is compromised and requires external support even under normal circumstances. Under the threat of COVID19 and other infections, the situation is not sustainable.

The good news is that the field of oncoimmunology, i.e. various methods to use certain built-in immune system processes to fight cancer cells, has been making good progress over the last decade or so. The COVID19 epidemic increases funding available for immunology research and applications. It also adds urgency to the need to create personalized cancer therapies that boost, rather than harm the immune system. Fifty years from now, people would consider as utterly stupid our current lack of understanding of how an individual's immune system responds to challenges, including cancerous cell mutations. Between now and then, we have to close this gap in knowledge and practical applications. The society's response to COVID19 helps this task.

Disclaimer: I'm neither a doctor, nor an immunologist. Rather, I'm involved in forming/funding startups in the field.

[dmm]

Thanks!

[timelets]

No problem.