Kanpur :

Celebrated tumour biologist, Prof Rakesh Jain of Harvard Medicine School, USA, during his visit to IIT-Kanpur on Monday said that he had held deliberations with department of science and technology (DST) and department of biotechnology (DBT) in Delhi on Saturday last to initiate research work on cancer in India, especially with IIT-Kanpur, which is also his alma mater. Prof Jain during the convocation ceremony of the premier institute on Monday was awarded the honorary degree ‘honoris causa’. He had come with his spouse and two daughters to receive the degree.

Director of IIT-K Prof Indranil Manna said, “Prof Jain spoke to me on collaborative cancer research and if DST or DBT proposes some research work on cancer, then it could be taken up”. Prof Jain had told TOI that he would like to enter into collaborative research with IIT-Kanpur.

Meanwhile, Prof Jain delivered a talk on ‘Cancer and its new treatment methods’ on Monday evening. He spoke in detail about the causes of cancer, possible treatment and what’s new in cancer research. He said that smoking which is the major cause of cancer among the people has hit millions of people across the world. He also spoke about his research contribution and latest cancer treatment by immune therapy.

Under ‘Immune Therapy’ special drugs are injected into the body of the cancer patient. The weak immune system of a human body also makes it difficult for proper treatment of the cancer as otherwise the cancerous tumour spreads further.

Prof Jain said that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in US has approved the drugs to be administered to the cancer patients, and his cancer treatment has been put to use by the doctors in US. The new method is expected to reach India soon, enabling cancer patients to get well completely.

Talking to TOI, Prof Jain said, “Though, at present there are treatments available for treating tumours but still a better clinical technique is needed in some types of cancers to provide relief to the patients. To evolve a new technique, we researched on the mirco-environment of the tumour and observed that there was abnormality in the tumour’s environment. This caused resistance to the treatment administered to the patient. Therefore, we decided to convert the abnormality inside the tumour’s environment to a normal environment. This proved to be successful.”

He said that cancer turns very aggressive when the abnormality in the micro-environment of the tumour causes resistance to the drugs. Giving deep insight into his research, Prof Jain said, “Such drugs have been developed in the US, and also approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which can reprogramme the microenvironment of the tumour. The patients suffering from skin cancer are being treated with immune therapy at present.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kanpur / by Abhinav Malhotra, TNN / February 25th, 2015