2021 Recap: Possible New Treatment for Neuroblastoma
- Anna Hobart
- Jan 18, 2022
- 2 min read
It’s a new year, which means a fresh start for new opportunities and breakthroughs, especially in cancer research! The new year is also a time to reflect on the amazing things we did last year, as well as working on advancing these things into 2022! In 2021, so many revolutionary breakthroughs in cancer research were made. One of these incredible breakthroughs has to do with a possible new treatment option for neuroblastoma, an unfortunately common cancer found primarily in pre-school-age children. According to www.worldwidecancerresearch.org, “Neuroblastoma accounts for 15% of all cancer-related deaths in children.” While chemotherapy is a common treatment, neuroblastoma cells can cause mutation and over-expression of certain genetic material such as MCYN. MCYN is a gene, often associated with a poor prognosis for neuroblastoma patients, that can prevent the death of cancer cells. This makes common treatments very difficult and often ineffective. So, researchers realized that they needed to find a way to “silence” these obstacles. Luckily, cancer researchers have found a possible way to solve this problem, and could essentially use this as another treatment option for kids with neuroblastoma! They discovered that by delivering siRNA, a synthetic RNA material (often known as “short interfering RNA”), they can target obstacles like MCYN near the tumor cells. They were able to develop nanoparticles (which are tiny bubbles!) that use certain attributes only present in tumor cells in order to know which cells to target. This means that with all possible barriers out of the way, the cancer cells can be killed much easier! This discovery could be a huge step in exploring new treatments for children with neuroblastoma. You can donate today at www.worldwidecancerresearch.org to help fund new treatments just like this one! New ideas like this are created so often, but they need our help to be put into action. Remember that by supporting Positively Possible, you are supporting cancer research across the country! We hope everyone has a wonderful new year, and we thank you for your support! Happy New Year!
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