Top 10 Cancer Fighting Foods That Are Backed By Science.

What are cancer growth blockers?
A cancer growth blocker is a targeted drug that blocks the growth factors that trigger cancer cells to divide and grow. Scientists are looking at different ways of doing this such as:

lowering levels of the growth factor in the body
blocking the growth factor receptor on the cancer cell
blocking the signals inside the cell that start up when the growth factor triggers the receptor
Most of these treatments work by blocking the signalling processes that cancer cells use to divide.

Cancer cells are often very sensitive to growth factors. So if we can block them, we can stop some types of cancer from growing and dividing. Scientists are developing different inhibitors for the different types of growth factors.

It isn't easy to group targeted therapies into different types because the groups often overlap. This can be confusing. For example, some cancer growth blockers stop the growth of blood vessels to the growing cancer. So they are also working as an anti angiogenic drugs. Some cancer growth blockers are also a monoclonal antibody. 

Types of cancer growth blockers
There are many different types of cancer growth blockers. They can be grouped according to the types of chemical that they block. There are some examples below.

1.  Tyrosine kinase inhibitors; Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) block chemical messengers (enzymes) called tyrosine kinases. Tyrosine kinases help to send growth signals in cells, so blocking them stops the cell growing and dividing.
2.  Proteasome inhibitors; Proteasomes are tiny, barrel shaped structures found in all cells. They help break down proteins the cell doesn't need into smaller parts. The cell can then use them to make new proteins that it does need.
3.  mTOR inhibitors; is a type of protein called a kinase protein. It can make cells produce chemicals (such as cyclins) that trigger cell growth. It may also make cells produce proteins that trigger the development of new blood vessels. Cancers need new blood vessels in order to grow. 
4.  PI3K inhibitors; PI3Ks are a group of closely related kinase proteins. Their full name is phospho inositide 3 kinases.
5.  Histone deacetylase inhibitors; Histone deacetylase inhibitors are also called HDAC inhibitors or HDIs.

They block the action of a group of enzymes that remove chemicals called acetyl groups from particular proteins. This can stop the cancer cell from using some genes that would help it to grow and divide. This might kill the cancer cell completely.

1.  Hedgehog pathway blockers; Hedgehog pathway blockers are drugs that target a group of proteins known as the hedgehog pathway. In the developing embryo, these proteins send signals that help cells to grow in the right place and in the right way.
2.  BRAF and MEK inhibitors; BRAF inhibitors directly block a protein called BRAF. BRAF is a chemical messenger (enzyme) that controls how cells grow and send signals.