Cancer Treatment May Also be Harmful for the Patients
Vanderbilt University researchers say the very treatment that can save you may also be harmful.
In the may issue of the journal of clinical investigation, the researchers report treating cancer with chemotherapy, radiation or surgery may actually cause tumors to spread — courtesy of a compound called TGF Beta.
Tests in mice show the treatments can raise the levels of TGF Beta in the body, which for example can actually help breast cancer tumors to spread to the lung.
But there is good news – the researchers say there’s an antibody doctors can use to stop the TGF Beta-spreading process.
And drugs in development now designed to block the chemical altogether may prevent cancer from recurring.
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