Hi Michelle, i do not have much expertise in phages. However, from my general knowledge I think phage therapy might play a role in killing off cancer cells that develop a drug resistance to the chemotherapy treatment. Thanks for watching !
Hi Jess, thanks for watching. I am no expert in phages, but people would die presumably if they are already weakened from cancer. I would say it depends to what degree a patients immune system is damaged/weakened by cancer care. As I said in the video people often die from the toxicity of the cancer treatment rather than the cancer itself, so putting multiple chemicals or having multiple procedures done on a patient is going to need a really strong immune system to begin with which often is not the case when you see cancer patients who are going through multiple cycles of chemotherapy. Again, thanks for watching and have a great night !
Hi Jess, thanks for watching. I think phage therapy could cause all sorts of problems on patients with already weak immune systems from cancer. I think it depends on how strong a patients immune system is at the time of treatment. If they had just gone through multiple cycles of chemotherapy then they will be at a high risk if they are treated with more chemicals/therapy. Again, I am no phage expert, but thanks again for watching !
What are some potential reasons why you think this compound did not produce a synergistic when combined with radiation? And how can we use this knowledge in future research?
Hi Ellie, there are two reasons as to why I think allicin did not produce a synergistic effect when combined with radiation. The first possibility is that allicin is a radiation protector which is highly unlikely when I look at our data and data from other research, but with such a small sample size it is still a possibility. The second explanation is that allicin is just more effective alone as a chemotherapy simply because that is how the compound functions, and radiation produces diminishing returns when they are both used together. I think this knowledge can be used in future research in that knowing how effective allicin is alone as a natural compound is very promising and exciting because you wouldn’t think that garlic can be this effective. In my opinion, good for a Neo-adjuvant procedure that can be used before another form of cancer treatment is administered like surgery. Thanks for watching !
Hi Daniel ! As far as chemotherapies go, I am sure that immunotherapy would be another choice which basically just buffs your immune system, I do not know how we would go about testing that in Drosophila but I think it might be a possibility to test immunotherapy and chemo in vitro. Thank you for watching!
Hi Salma ! Irradiation is when we expose the flies to radiation. When we irradiate the larvae, we are basically simulating radiation treatment in a human patient with cancer. Since the flies represent cancer cells, radiation only kills 50 percent of them. However, when we use a known chemotherapy like colchicine we kill like 93 percent of the flies because generally combination therapy is more effective than only using one form of treatment alone. So we are basically trying to find chemotherapies that increase the effectiveness of combination therapy treatment (radiation + chemotherapy). Thank you for watching, have a good night !
How do you think future researchers can incorporate phage therapy into cancer treatment?
Hi Michelle, i do not have much expertise in phages. However, from my general knowledge I think phage therapy might play a role in killing off cancer cells that develop a drug resistance to the chemotherapy treatment. Thanks for watching !
What problems could phage therapy cause on patients with already weakened immune systems from cancer?
Hi Jess, thanks for watching. I am no expert in phages, but people would die presumably if they are already weakened from cancer. I would say it depends to what degree a patients immune system is damaged/weakened by cancer care. As I said in the video people often die from the toxicity of the cancer treatment rather than the cancer itself, so putting multiple chemicals or having multiple procedures done on a patient is going to need a really strong immune system to begin with which often is not the case when you see cancer patients who are going through multiple cycles of chemotherapy. Again, thanks for watching and have a great night !
Hi Jess, thanks for watching. I think phage therapy could cause all sorts of problems on patients with already weak immune systems from cancer. I think it depends on how strong a patients immune system is at the time of treatment. If they had just gone through multiple cycles of chemotherapy then they will be at a high risk if they are treated with more chemicals/therapy. Again, I am no phage expert, but thanks again for watching !
What are some potential reasons why you think this compound did not produce a synergistic when combined with radiation? And how can we use this knowledge in future research?
Hi Ellie, there are two reasons as to why I think allicin did not produce a synergistic effect when combined with radiation. The first possibility is that allicin is a radiation protector which is highly unlikely when I look at our data and data from other research, but with such a small sample size it is still a possibility. The second explanation is that allicin is just more effective alone as a chemotherapy simply because that is how the compound functions, and radiation produces diminishing returns when they are both used together. I think this knowledge can be used in future research in that knowing how effective allicin is alone as a natural compound is very promising and exciting because you wouldn’t think that garlic can be this effective. In my opinion, good for a Neo-adjuvant procedure that can be used before another form of cancer treatment is administered like surgery. Thanks for watching !
Are there other combinations that may cause a synergistic effect other than radiation?
Hi Daniel ! As far as chemotherapies go, I am sure that immunotherapy would be another choice which basically just buffs your immune system, I do not know how we would go about testing that in Drosophila but I think it might be a possibility to test immunotherapy and chemo in vitro. Thank you for watching!
What was the purpose of irradiating the larvae? What does this signify?
Hi Salma ! Irradiation is when we expose the flies to radiation. When we irradiate the larvae, we are basically simulating radiation treatment in a human patient with cancer. Since the flies represent cancer cells, radiation only kills 50 percent of them. However, when we use a known chemotherapy like colchicine we kill like 93 percent of the flies because generally combination therapy is more effective than only using one form of treatment alone. So we are basically trying to find chemotherapies that increase the effectiveness of combination therapy treatment (radiation + chemotherapy). Thank you for watching, have a good night !