Today I went to a surgical nursing symposium, it absolutely blew me away. I know that there have been advances in surgical technique and treatments for cancer but Often as nurses we dont know the specific details. Thats not to say we dont know the hows or whys. One of the things I learned is that cancer treatments are tailored to each individual person and not to a group. In previous years cancer treatments were were treated by the kind of cancer you had, for example if you had type (A) cancer you and everyone else in that group got the same medical treatment. I know that thats is a gross generalization but you get the idea. Now each patient has there own specific treatment, which is designed for them Advancement in every aspect of medicine makes this possible, the biggest being DNA and Gene mapping. This means that they can take your cancer cell, dig out the DNA and locate the gene that is responsable for the mutant cell. This is how they can taylor your cancer treatment, this is also how they find out if you are at risk for getting cancer, especially breast cancer. The best example of this is Angelina Jolene, she brought this information to people world wide. Now Im not saying that every one should go have genetic testing done as it is very expensive and not necessary. In fact you have to fit a specific risk criteria in order for testing to be done here in Canada. Of course if your willing to pay you always have the option of going across the border and paying for it, but that does not mean you should. I know our system is not perfect and often lags behind due to expense, but that is the price we choose to pay to have the health care system we have and are very lucky we do. I am not getting into a public health care discussion. Isnt it just amazing, that you can now get a specific treatment for your cancer. This alone has helped to increase the chance of surviving cancer more likely then ever before. We have known for a long time that genetics play a role in who we are, blue or brown eyed, red or brown hair and so on. But now we know how huge a role our genetic make up plays in the disease process. This means that there is a chance that some day, likely in the near future there will be a cure for cancer.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 04:10:19 +0000
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