I was talking to a pair of immunologists tonight about how the immune system might be used to fight cancer, since cancer "turns off" the immune system's ability to fight cancerous cells. This is not exactly a new idea, but exciting explorations are being made in how to use the existing human body in different ways to counter and even prevent diseases that are considered scourges. I also ate a whole bunch of awesome Indian food and held my friend's 5 month-old son tonight for a while before the mothers in attendance decided I wasn't holding him right (he was fine). Life has a way of marching on even though we might not feel ready for it. Again, this is not a new idea, but as it's "that time of year again" I'd encourage you to reflect on the state of things (The State of Louderwords) and how things got there. It certainly blew my mind tonight.
That shit will blow your mind. The interaction between the immune system and any disease is pretty incredible, but when it comes to 'fighting' your own cells--as is the case in cancer--it's a whole new level of weird. My personal hope is that immunology is the key to a good cancer fighting strategy (if there is such a thing as a generic cancer fighting strategy, as 'cancer' isn't in any way a singular disease). The way we treat cancer now is barbaric and simple, but sadly, it's the best we currently have.I was talking to a pair of immunologists tonight about how the immune system might be used to fight cancer, since cancer "turns off" the immune system's ability to fight cancerous cells. This is not exactly a new idea, but exciting explorations are being made in how to use the existing human body in different ways to counter and even prevent diseases that are considered scourges.
Last year I read The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which greatly expanded my concept of what exactly cancer is. I'm sure that there are much more in-depth books on the subject, but as a layperson, I really enjoyed reading it to learn more about the topic in general. I have a very, very limited understanding of immunology, but from what I gathered from the conversation was that the field shows a lot of promise. The woman who mentioned using the immune system to fight cancer works for a company that is also trying to figure out how to get the immune system to recognize HIV as an intruder. I must admit that the way these two were talking really confused me, as I don't speak immunologistese. At one point, one of them simply said, "humanodon, this is really important!" when she caught my eyes glazing over. Anyway, what I do find fascinating is that people are finding ways to extend and expand on the utility of the human body. It seems like an obvious idea to use what is already there to accomplish something new or different and yet it seems like until recently, the technology or understanding has not existed to make these things happen.The way we treat cancer now is barbaric and simple, but sadly, it's the best we currently have.