Kathmandu. Scientists at South Korea’s renowned university Kist have opened a new and promising chapter in the history of cancer treatment.
Traditionally, cancer cells are treated as “enemies” and tried to destroy them through chemotherapy or radiation. It also causes serious damage to the healthy parts of the body. However, the research team led by Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho has successfully developed a technique to ‘reprogram’ cancer cells without killing them and turning them back into healthy cells. The discovery described cancer as a technical error that could be treated rather than a disease that needs to be eradicated from the body.
Broken software and method of repair{{
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According to scientists, cancer cells are not actually any external malignant agents, but our own healthy cells. Those who have lost their right path or direction. It can be likened to a ‘glitch’ or technical glitch in a computer’s software. As a result, the cells begin to divide uncontrollably.
A South Korean team has discovered such a switch by studying the internal structure of the cell with the help of a sophisticated computer model called ‘Digital Twin’. Which can fix this mess.
When this protein switch called ‘SETDB1’ is turned off, the cells of skin cancer (melanoma), which is considered to be considered very aggressive, have returned to their old form and can start functioning again as normal and healthy cells.
Possibility of Chemotherapy Pain Relief and Gentle Treatment
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One of the biggest strengths of this new technology is its ‘gentle healing’ approach. At present, during the treatment of cancer, patients have to face severe side effects such as hair loss, excessive fatigue and other healthy parts of the body. However, in this method of reprogramming the cells, the cancer repairs the cells rather than kills them, causing very little damage to the rest of the body. It is expected to make cancer treatment more humane and accessible.
This technique also activates the body’s own immune system. This reduces the risk of cancer recurrence.
Relevance and Future Challenges for Nepal{
For a country like Nepal, this technology can be a big relief in the future. Many people are losing their lives due to late detection of cancer and expensive and arduous treatment. If this technology is fully successful, it could reduce the need for expensive machines and complex surgeries. However, since this research is still in the early stages of testing, it may still be a few years before it can be widely used in humans.
Scientists are now preparing to test this technique in other types of cancer besides skin and colon cancer.
New Perspectives on Worldwide Cancer Treatment
This discovery has changed the way we look at cancer. Treating cancer as a ‘biological mistake’ that can be corrected instead of a disease that needs to be destroyed is a revolutionary idea in itself.
It is believed that this success of the scientists of Kist will bring cancer to a normal and curable state in the future. Oncologists around the world are now watching this research closely and it is expected that it will bring big changes in the field of human health in the next decade.
