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For louis ubillospresident of the Society of Medical and Pediatric Oncology of Uruguay and deputy director of the National Cancer Institute, innovative treatments against Cancer such as immunotherapy, molecular targets or conjugated antibodies “do not replace” standard practices such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy but rather “accompany” it and, for many patients, recovery is achieved through a combination of techniques.
“The advances are essential. They are truly icons in cancer treatment and we have achieved in many cases the chronification of the disease; that is one of the objectives that we pursue”, he said in an interview in Quality of Life in El País.
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Today it is known, for example, that cancer is a heterogeneous disease that can be represented by more than 200 different types of tumors. For example, five completely different types of breast cancer have been identified and each one requires a particular strategy. Having this information may be the key that prevents the death of the patient.
In this sense, immunotherapy has changed the survival of patients with certain types of cancer, particularly lung, digestive and skin cancers – “for melanoma we had very few therapeutic options and we have achieved survival rates unimaginable 10 years ago,” he pointed out. – and today it is studied “in almost all scenarios, either alone or combined” with other techniques.
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