Question

Episode 1 of the documentary Emperor of all Maladies titled Magic Bullets

The Emperor of all Maladies: Episode 1: Magic Bullets

2. What are the limitations of this single strategy, and what was the effect of “pushing to the limit“ on the patient?

Answer 1

Answer:

Curing a disease like cancer is entirely different from other forms of human ailments. Cancer is an uncontrolled gowth of normal body cells. The grow vigorously and in the later stages spread to other body parts. A single method works in a specific manner and interact with cancer cells in a specific way. Radiation therapy has a limited application if the cells have travelled the body and spread to different locations to cause disease. But even if cancer is localized, radiation therapy also kills the normal and healthy cells in the same manner as cancer cells. Likewise, administering an anticancer drug also has non-specific action. Surgery to remove even the underlying tissues has also not been found to be helpful primarily due to metastatic nature of cancer cells. However, a specific drug or a molecule looks to be a more promising candidate for targeting cancer cells irrespective of their origin or location inside human body. Human body has a well developed and highly efficient immune system that cansist of cells which interact in a specific manner with pathognes or other cells. Mounting an immune response to a cancer cells has the advantage of being non-toxic and highly specific.