Dance Blue-- Cancer Itself

Blog Post #13

Topic: Cancer Advances in Recent Years

    While many of those, if not all, who teach at the university level will swear by the use of databases, in trying to do research about a relatively new program theres is no information about it in databases.  Unfortunately, the cause that Dance Blue benefits, cancer, also only returns results in databases that are way over the head of any undergraduate.  With this being said, I found an article in the INTECH database with an article about advances in cancer research.

    The cure for cancer has been the holy grail of the medical field for decades.  In the past four decades the death rates from cancer have been steadily declining, largely in part due to advances at the molecular level.  Since scientists have been able to more closely study the human DNA, they have been able to sort out 680 different genes that can affect cancer treatment.  This means that there is the possibility for more individualized treatments that result in less strain on the patient.

   I will admit that this article is over the head of anyone besides a doctor, but it shows that advancements are being made in cancer treatments and finding a cure.  However, much of this research isn't just theoretical, it requires very expensive equipment and highly paid technicians to do.  This is where Dance Blue comes into play.  The money raised from Dance Blue goes towards this cause.  A good question for the Dance Blue committee would be to find out where the money actually ends up going, as in what group is the check given to.

    By just skimming this lengthy article I've realized just how complex of an issue cancer is.  This makes what Dance Blue does even more important.

--Stephen Ritchie

Reference:
Gabriela Mustata Wilson and Yagmur Muftuoglu (2012). Computational Strategies in Cancer Drug Discovery, Advances in Cancer Management, Prof. Ravinder  Mohan (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-870-0, InTech, DOI: 10.5772/24177. Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/advances-in-cancer-management/computational-strategies-in-cancer-drug-discovery