Cancer and NMR Spectroscopy Essay -- Biology

Cancer is a disease that will most likely affect each and every one of us throughout our lives. There are approximately 560,000 people that die from cancer each year. To put it in perspective, between 1/4 and 1/3 of all Americans will die from this deadly disease. These statistics could be greatly reduced if people would stop smoking. Approximately 35% of all cancer cases are direct results of tobacco use. Many people do not fully understand what cancer really is. Cancer is simply a mutation in the cells which causes them to replicate continuously without bond. Many people relate cancer with tumors, and rightly so. A tumor is basically just a lump of mutated cells which eventually grows so big that it blocks the functions of the organs around it (a benign tumor) or begins to invade tissues surrounding it (a malignant tumor). Although there has been extensive research concerning cancer, nothing has been found that can cure cancer 100%. The reason for this is because a cancer tumor carries many different cancer cells. Every cancer cell reacts differently to each method of treatment, so while chemotherapy may kill some cancer cells in a tumor, other "subpopulations" of cells in the same tumor may not be affected at all. Another problem with cancer is that the cancer cells are able to travel throughout the body, an event known as metastasis. This means that cancer cells in the breast or lung are able to travel to the heart. This means that the cancer can spread throughout the body very easily, making treatment very difficult. While we have no true cures for cancer, there have been a few methods of treatment that have been somewhat successful. One such treatment is the drug cyclophosphamide (which is actually converted to 4-hydro... ...solution, nonradioactive method (NMR), the metabolites can be monitored noninvasively. NMR spectroscopy basically allows one to look at certain certain nuclei, such as phosphorus and carbon, and show resonance. Since there are high levels of both of these elements in cancer cells, the NMR method allowed for clear observation of GSH levels. In addition to cancer cells, many other cell lines have high levels of metabolites containing phosphorus and carbon. With this in mind, NMR spectroscopy is clearly the tool of the future for noninvasive observations of cells. Namely, it can be used for studying molecular dynamics, kinetics, microstructures, and equilibrium levels of chemical reactions. Through the use of more advanced methods and technology such as NMR, medical researchers can begin to piece together the puzzles of biology and medicine within the human body.