The global burden of cancer throughout the world continues to increase largely because of the aging and growth of the world population alongside with an increasing adoption of cancer-causing behaviors characteristic of economically developed countries. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer- 23% of cases. Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females. Further, lung cancer among females in developing countries is as high as the burden for cervical cancer.
A substantial proportion of the worldwide burden of cancer could be prevented through the application of existing cancer control knowledge and by implementing programs for tobacco control, vaccination (for liver and cervical cancers), and early detection and treatment, as well as public health campaigns promoting physical activity and a healthier dietary intake.
Cancer in Israel
Cancer has remained Israel’s number one severe disease, according to the data, with heart disease the second-highest.
Every year in Israel, over 30,000 people are diagnosed with cancer, joining over 200,000 Israelis already living with the disease and undergoing treatment at various medical institutions throughout the country.
According to the statistics, Israel is one of the most successful countries in the battle against cancer and offers the highest rates of life expectancy following complex treatment of oncological diseases. Over the past decades, the chances of recovery from various types of cancer in Israel rose from 30 % to 60%..
Special attention should be given to the outstanding achievements in the treatment of cancer among children. In the 1970s the survival of young patients after treatment was approximately 50 %, at the beginning of 2000 – 75%, and in 2010 already reached 80%.
These encouraging figures explain the fact that more and more foreign patients seek medical treatment in Israel.
The Hadassah University Hospital stands at the forefront of Oncologic treatment
The Sharett Institute of Oncology Department was established at the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in 1977 as a national center for the prevention and cancer treatment in Israel, and for cancer research.
The Sharett Institute of Oncology Department, serving the population of Jerusalem and environs, is a referral center for cancer patients from all over the world. More than 3,500 new patients are referred to the Sharett Institute each year.
The ultra-modern facility includes a large, comfortable waiting lounge, two mammography suites, two ultrasound rooms, a stereotactic biopsy room, a physician’s examination room, a consultation room, an x-ray reading-film interpretation room and a research room dedicated to studies to improve breast cancer detection.
The Center’s specially trained personnel help patients deal with the initial impact of diagnosis and work with them during the transition from diagnosis at the Center to treatment at HMO’s Sharett Institute of Oncology, which is located in close proximity to the Center.
The Sharett Institute strives for excellence, reliability and compassion in its cancer treatment. The Institute’s goal is to employ the best and foremost methods the world over, while addressing the special emotional needs of each and every patient. Along with offering standard cancer treatment, the Institute’s physicians include the patients in innovative and international clinical trials, and develop experimental and cutting-edge cancer treatment approaches at the Oncology Department. In order to achieve these goals the Institute operates special units that are inextricably linked, consisting of infrastructure units, specialized units focusing on specific spheres, and interdisciplinary units.
The clinical units work closely with the most advanced research laboratories. Researchers, doctors and lab technicians work as a team to investigate new treatments and spheres relating to cancer, enabling rapid and maximum use of research outcomes in cancer treatment Israel, diagnosis and prevention.
In addition to radiation and chemotherapy, both of which have side effects, some cancers are being fought with new methods. These include focused biological treatments that use antibodies to block enzymes that encourage tumor growth; antibodies that damage the blood vessels that sustain the tumor; drugs that damage the casing of the tumor, thus preventing its growth; and treatments that boost the patient’s own immune system’s ability to fight the tumor.
Groundbreaking Breast Cancer Research and innovative vaccine to battle breast cancer at the Hadassah Medical Center:
In 1995, Hadassah Medical Organization proudly joined with researchers at the National Institutes of Health to publish the groundbreaking dominant genetic research on BRCA1 mutations and developed a blood test that reveals that it is possible to predict the presence of harmful BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in otherwise healthy women using a novel technology called gene expression profiling.
Women with a mutation in their BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have a significantly increased risk for developing breast or ovarian cancer. For many of those at risk, the disease may develop at an early age.
“This novel technology aims to provide a layer of information regarding the cell functionality aspect of BRCA mutations that could greatly enhance the doctor’s ability to identify high-risk carriers. With gene expression profiling, researchers can search for genes that have the potential to distinguish healthy BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers from noncarriers.
The test can reveal whether a patient carries a harmful mutation regardless of the specificity of the mutation.
Vaccine to Battle Breast Cancer: In 2002, Prof. Tamar Peretz’s and the Sharett Institute of Oncology started to develop a vaccine to battle cancer, which was expanded in 2010 to include protocols for breast, gastrointestinal, and lung cancers. Cancer cells are removed from the patient’s body, irradiated, and then injected back into the patient. Once the cells have been irradiated they no longer cause cancer, and can trigger an immune reaction within the patient to fight any recurrence of cancer.
Individually Tailored Therapy in Oncology at Hadassah
For the most part, organ-oriented multidisciplinary teams (lung, breast, for example) make decisions about patient treatments. Hadassah has pioneered the psycho-oncology team, which helps patients with the emotional aspects of having cancer, as well as a genetic oncology team, which tailors therapy for individual patients based on their genetic profiles.
Hadassah offers New Treatment for Neuroendocrine Cancer
Hadassah is now providing a unique treatment for neuroendocrine cancer. It involves injecting patients with radioactive material that attaches to the malignant cell, and then absorbs and destroys the cell with minimal damage to other tissue. The new treatment is the outgrowth of three years of collaboration between Hadassah and Soreq Nuclear Research. The radioactive material from the United States is assembled at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, and arrives in Hadassah once a week at a set time, with an exact radiation level.
The treatment successfully prolongs life expectancy for 80 percent of the patients and retards the progress of the disease among half them. This treatment, considered one of the best and most innovative available, differs from chemotherapy, providing prolonged relief for the patients with only a few side effects. Following just one day in the hospital, patients are released and resume full functioning within several days.
Initiated in Israel, Clinical Trial for Innovative Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Expands to United States
A clinical trial with TL-118–a new treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer–that has been ongoing at the Hadassah University Medical Center and three other oncology centers in Israel, has been expanded to the United States.
Produced by Tiltan Pharma,TL-118 belongs to the family of angiogenesis-inhibiting drugs, which means it inhibits new blood vessel formation in tumors and thus cuts off their blood supply and growth. Angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels are formed, is a hallmark capability of cancer cells. Anti-angiogenic therapy has, therefore, emerged as a most promising strategy with solid tumors, which rely on aggressive angiogenesis for their growth.
To date, over 1,000 cancer patients have been treated with TL-118 for up to four years, according to Tiltan Pharma, jointly owned by Yissum, the Hebrew University’s Technology Transfer Company, and other investors from Israel and Canada.
Hadassah Pioneers New Treatment for Liver Cancer
The Hadassah University Medical Center, for the first time in Israel, has pioneered a new treatment for liver cancer, using a direct flow of high-voltage electric current to destroy a malignant tumor.
Typically, a cancerous growth in the liver proves fatal, but this new procedure offers hope to those suffering from liver cancer.
When cancerous growth is attached to blood vessels, it is difficult to reach and remove. The new procedure–Irreversible Electroporation- does not generate excessive heat or cold in the body and can therefore be applied close to blood vessels and vital organs without harming them
Requiring just a few minutes under anesthesia, the electroporation is a complete success.
Hadassah Researchers Score Success in Lung Cancer Treatment
The researchers found that introduction of BKT140 leads to the death of cancerous lung tumor cells and a reduction in the size of the growths
The Hadassah researchers have identified a material that could help remedy lung cancer. In tests conducted by researchers at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Kerem on cell samples the material shrank tumors by about 50 percent, and when it was used in conjunction with radiation therapy and chemotherapy, the pace of cancerous cell growth was reduced by about 90 percent.
The researchers examined the impact of two components, a receptor called CXCR4 and a protein that cleaves to it called CXCL12, which has been identified in many studies as present in cancer patients.
In studies that they did on lung cancer tissue removed from patients, the researchers found that the cancerous cells contained both the receptor and the protein in concentrations that increased as the cancer became more advanced and aggressive. They later discovered that adding the protein CXCL12 to cancerous lung tumor cells made the growths more virulent.
The researchers then found that a material known as BKT140 succeeded in preventing the protein and receptor from connecting to each other, which led to the death of cancerous lung tumor cells and a reduction in the size of the growths. The material was already developed as a remedy and has already proven to have a high safety profile with few side effects.
Israel’s Hadassah, AstraZeneca to Develop Drugs to Treat Cancer, Diabetes and Respiratory Disease
Israel’s Hadassah Medical Organization, via Hadasit, its technology transfer arm, has partnered with AstraZeneca plc, the global pharmaceuticals pharmaceuticals giant, to collaborate on discovering and developing treatments for cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases.
The Hadassah University Hospital combines the cooperative efforts of physicians, scientists, engineers and business development people thus allowing a multidimensional approach which encourages the creation and development of new medical treatments to win the battle against cancer.
Contact us at IMTA group, the official representative of Hadassah Medical Center and we will be happy to assist you in receiving the best medicine has to offer
