Karachi: Pakistan origin American scientist Dr Azra Raza has said that the cancer patient could be cured if his or her cells treated before treatment of cancer.
This was said by Dr Azra Raza, the Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine and Clinical Director at Columbia University’s Edward P. Evans Foundation MDS Center during a lecture at Karachi University.
Reciting poetic verses and referring to renowned poets, Dr Raza said the major problems of life, including such as cancer could be fought only with and through passion.
She apprised that the the basis of cancer treatment is its early diagnosis. She went on to say that this disease first cell should be caught at its birth.
Dr Azra Raza says the disease mostly spreads through heredity, infections and toxic exposures.
Dr Azra Raza apprised further that tension and estrangement are the major cause of the disease.
She emphasises on detecting the earliest cancer cells in human body through blood samples. She said that she had established a think tank with major US universities and institutes and the conclusion it reached at was “we should find cancer before it finds us”.
She said she and her team were developing a method, a Bispecific Antibody, to target the Giant Cell.
The illness cuased distrubance in the DNA of a body, she added.
Moreover, billions of dollars are being spent on research of treatment of cancer, she furthered.
She said in most other diseases, cells stayed in their respective organs but cancer was the only disease in which the cells walked out of their organs of origin and spread to others. Cancer cells give birth to other cells, which are called Giant Cells, which she calls as the first cell. These Giant Cells constantly mutate and evolve. There are spontaneous somatic mutations in them and that’s why it is very important to detect it as earlier as possible.
Speaking about the causes of cancer, Dr Raza said there were many reasons for the disease but it mostly spread through infections and toxic exposures. She said some types of cancer were also hereditary.
She said presently around 60% of cancer patients were being cured but even those also had to through very painful treatment methods as little progress had been made in the methods and same methods were being used in many cases that were being used decades ago. “This is not the solution to cancer,” she added.
Furthermore, she said that even the present day treatment would be effective and helpful only when applied early. Similarly, lifestyle changes were important but, she said, that would only make a difference at early stage and early detection.
She strongly opposed the conventional “slash-poison-burn” approach and advocated for a more cost-effective, less toxic, and efficient strategy for the future.
Emphasising the importance of collecting human samples, she said that animal samples were not effective for detecting human cancer and, therefore, collecting and studying human samples was necessary.
Many cancer survivors were at risk of developing the disease again, she said. Therefore, those who had family history of cancer, should adopt a healthy lifestyle, particularly quit smoking and alcohol and start exercising properly. Similarly, they should also look for early detection.
