“Cancer is a battle going inside a person’s body in between his will to survive and those deadly cancerous cells.”
What is Ibrance?
Palbociclib is the name of a medicinal active drug, which is available in the market with the brand/trade name of Ibrance.
The medication belongs to the class of drugs that have CDK4/6 inhibiting properties in them.
The Cyclin Dependent Kinase (CDK), is an enzyme that takes part in the cell division process of the body.
The CDK 4 AND CDK 6 are the sub-enzymes involved with the CDK enzyme. The CDK4/6 inhibitors, when consumed, target these enzymes in the body to inhibit or reduce the cell division activity.
The dosage of Ibrance is combined with certain hormone therapies for better results.
The medicine is available in the form of tablet or capsule with 3 mg (milligrams): 75, 100 and 125.
Ibrance is not available as a generic drug in the market.
How Does Cancer Spreads in a Person’s Body: The Science Behind Cancer Cell Division-
“Our body is like a miracle itself and what goes inside it is a different story. The magic and surprises a person’s body can perform are never ending but, one thing which is crystal clear is that every action in our body is calculated and linked to each other somehow.”
If we talk about normal cells and their division:
A new healthy cell first divides in two daughter cells- then the individual daughter cells divide in two more cells, giving out a total of 4 cells- then the 4 cells divide in two more cells individually, giving total of 8 cells- the process goes on and we get the number of cells from a single healthy cells.
Now, the most significant question here is……
How This Cycle of Cell Division is Controlled and Who Controls it?
The answer is the DNA in the cells. The DNA signals the cells about when to divide, when to stop dividing and die, which tissue they should form and with what other cells they should group to form a tissue. Each cell’s DNA has a set of instructions of their own and the cell works in accordance with those instructions.
These instructions are followed correctly by the healthy cells, for instance if we say: why don’t toes grow on our head? Yes! Because they followed the rules for them … to grow on our feet.
The problem arises when the DNA in these cells become damaged. This leads to change in the instructions and the cell starts to act abnormal. If the number of abnormal cells is few, our immune system could get a grip on them and control their spread in the body, but the situation worsens when the number of these cells becomes large and the condition gets out of hand of the immune system. When the cells start to grow in a tissue like skin, this is called Dysplasia.
When there is uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells in the body, they form a lump or tumour, eventually a cancer in a body part is developed.
How Does Ibrance Controls Cancer: The Mechanism Behind Ibrance Cycle of Preventing the Growth of Cancerous Cells (Breast Cancer)-
Breast cancer could have different types and various factors that influence the growth and spread of cancer in a person’s body. Out of them, in the HR Positive and HER-2 Negative breast cancer, use of Ibrance could be effective.
In the Hormone Receptor Positive (HR Positive) and HER-2 Negative breast cancer, the activity of CDK4/6 enzymes gets out of control. The solution lies in using a medicinal help that has properties of inhibiting the activity of these enzymes.
The Ibrance medicine, when taken, is specific to these enzymes. The drug blocks these enzymes thus, reducing the activity of cell division. This helps to reduce the spread of cab=ncer cells in the body of the patient.
Is Ibrance an Ultimate Solution to Control Breast Cancer Conditions?
Ibrance could be used to treat advanced or metastatic breast cancer in women and could help to increase the survival chances of the patients but, it is not an ultimate solution for treatment.
It also has lots of side effects…..
Side Effects of Using Ibrance-
- Hair loss or thinning
- Anaemia
- Low levels of platelets
- Vomiting or nauseous feeling
- Diarrhoea
- Mouth Sores
- Decreased appetite
What we conclude is that Ibrance could help to control the spread of breast cancer but, if a person is unfortunate, the cancer still could spread and can lead to risk of death. In order to get rid of the cancer and to have the best result, a person does need a surgical treatment, even if he/she is taking Ibrance. A patient can opt for the advanced surgical treatment available in the medical world for breast cancer: Breast Oncoplasty, after consulting with his/her doctor.
To read more about the Breast Oncoplastic treatment, follow the following link- What You Should Know About Oncoplastic Breast Surgery (chermsidespecialists.com.au)
