New hope in treatment from Cancer Genome & Tissue BankImage Credit Source: Getty Images
IIT Madras Cancer Genome Bank: Cancer is still a fatal disease around the world, and India is also not untouched by it. Due to increasing cases, treatment is needed which are favorable to every person’s genes and tissue. Given this need, IIT Madras has taken a new initiative, by creating a cancer genome and tissue bank, which can give a new way to personalized (individual) cancer treatment in India.
The question comes, how will this bank work? So the objective of this project is to collect about 7,000 tumor samples from cancer patients across the country and increase them in the lab. Different therapy will be tried on these samples, so that it should be seen which therapy has the most impact on the patient. In this way, instead of guessing the doctors will be able to know which treatment will give better results.
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The team of IIT Madras has already made an interesting discovery. Let us tell you that a mutation has been found in a breast cancer which is more common in India, while not in Western countries. This shows that it is not only right to rely on foreign genomic data, but India-specific studies are necessary.
Newness and impact in India
This cancer genome-tishu bank is associated with Bharat Cancer Genome Atlas. This database will include genomic data of many cancer cases in India. This information will help doctors and researchers what medicines and how to work. A big objective of this initiative is to bring a procedure medicine, that is, a treatment that should be decided keeping in mind the genes and body profiles of every patient. This will make treatment more effective, side effects will be less and the patient will get better life.
Why cancer genomes and tissue banks are necessary
Cancer genome and tissue banks are needed because every human’s DNAs are different. Cancer also increases in different ways in different people. So far, most of the treatment is done on foreign research and data, while the difference between the genes and tissues of Indians is found.
- If Indians will have their own data and tissue bank, then doctors and scientists will be able to understand what kind of cancer is more and which medicine or therapy will impact better.
- The second reason is that time and accuracy matters a lot in the treatment of cancer. If the doctors already have information about which medicine was so effective, then the treatment would not be delayed and the right medication and therapy could also be given.