Pharmacological and Device-Based Therapeutic Approaches to Cancer Management

The stuff of heredity, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) carries the genetic information that cells need to both replicate and produce proteins, which are essential to the structure and function of the human body. Controlling all aspects of cellular activity, DNA provides the normal body cell with instructions that tell it how to grow and divide, and eventually, when to die. In an abnormal cell, however, these instructions become corrupted; malfunctions in cellular processes occur, and the cell may become cancerous. Cancer is a group of more than 100 diseases that are characterized by the uncontrolled production of abnormal cells
that were originally normal. Cancer cells may remain localized or, through the blood and lymphatic systems, they may invade adjacent tissues and metastasize to vital organs, such as the brain, liver, and lungs. As malignant cells proliferate and crowd normal cells in the tissues of an organ, structural obstructions may form and competition for nutrients occurs; if left untreated, the invaded tissues begin to malfunction, resulting in the death of the organ, and ultimately, the patient.