Here's How Gene Therapy Is Used to Treat Cancer

Mankind has been working tirelessly to find a cure for different types of cancer which affect the human body and leave a devastating effect on cancer patients. Cancer occurs due to the production of multiple mutations in a single cell that causes it to multiply in large numbers and get out of control. If we talk about India, then data shows that around 3.1 million of cancer cases were found. Cancer-promoting mutations can be identified in a variety of ways. Several methods such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have been used as a treatment for cancer in most of the top and best cancer hospitals in India.


Cancer patients who do not get cured by the above therapies are treated by gene therapy. Gene therapy is the insertion of a functional gene into the cells of a patient to correct an inborn error of metabolism, to alter or repair an acquired genetic abnormality, and to provide a new function to a cell. Gene therapy also known as human gene transfer is the therapeutic delivery of nucleic acid into a patient’s cells as a drug to treat cancer.

Two types of basic gene therapies applied to humans are:

Germinal Gene Therapy

Germinal gene therapy introduces transgenic cells into the germ line as well as into the somatic cell population.

Somatic Gene Therapy

Somatic gene therapy focuses only on the body, attempting to effect a reversal of the cancerous spread by treating some somatic tissues in the affected individual.

Gene therapy is a way to fix a genetic problem at its source. As per oncologist doctor, the polymers are either translated into proteins, interfere with target gene expression or possibly correct genetic mutations.
Gene therapy is aimed to boost the body's natural ability to attack cancer cells by adding genes to a patient’s immune cells. This makes them better at finding or destroying particular types of cancer. Some gene therapies put genes into cancer cells to make the cells more sensitive to particular treatments. The aim is to make treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, work better.

Also Read - Radiation Therapy & Chemotherapy - Differences You Need to Know

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