While cancer itself has yet to be cured, we have come a long way. Here are some of the discoveries made by the medical community in the last 20 years.
Late 1990s
2004: The First 'Antiangiogenic' Drugs Are Approved
A new type of targeted drugs, called antiangiogenics, work by blocking the blood vessels that tumors rely on to grow. The US Food & Drug Administration approved the antiangiogenic Avastin (bevacizumab) to treat colorectal cancer — which is later proven to be effective on various other cancers as well, including lung and ovarian cancers.
2006: The First Vaccine to Prevent Cervical Cancer
The FDA approved Gardasil, a vaccine against two strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes roughly 70% of all cervical cancers. It is meant for girls and women age 9 to 26. Later studies show Gardasil prevents other HPV-related cancers in women and men.
2009: Major Studies Call Into Question the Benefits of PSA Testing
In a series of studies, researchers question the value of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. Does it lead to overdiagnosis and overly aggressive treatment, or does it reduce the risk of death? The debate is ongoing.
2010: The First Human Cancer Treatment Vaccine
The FDA approved Provenge (sipuleucel-T), a cancer treatment vaccine that is made using a patient's own immune system cells to treat advanced prostate cancer. So far, it’s the only vaccine approved in the US to treat cancer.
2011: FDA Approves Promising New Immunotherapy
Yervoy (ipilimumab), a new immunotherapy, is shown to improve survival rates in people with advanced skin cancer by blocking CTLA-4, which suppresses a natural immune response. As the Cancer Research Institute explains, “It is also the first in an emerging class of therapies called 'checkpoint blockade,' which enhance the immune system’s ability to attack cancer by interfering with immunological checkpoints that slow or stop immune cell activation and proliferation in the presence of tumors or chronic viral infection."
2013: CAR-T Used to Treat Childhood Leukemia
A new approach to cancer treatment called chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell (CAR-T) therapy proves promising. With CAR-T therapy, a patient’s own T cells are genetically altered to attack cancer cells.
