That is a very though provoking question, well done! I wish I had a solid answer for you. My grandmother died of cancer, a cousin of mine did well in kicking cancer butt, and one of my childhood friends was diagnosed with a rare cancer just a little while ago. Your question to me is a very personal one. I will try my best to answer it for you. The tricky part about cancer research is that there are so many cancers out there. These cancers are located in different parts of the body, and are caused by different things. For example, skin cancer is caused, by too much sun exposure. Slip, slop, slap! Lung cancer caused by smoking, please don’t smoke! and so on. I don’t think we will ever be able to prevent every single cancer out there, and there won’t be a magic cure for them all. Cancers are very complicated, but there is a silver lining! Surgery (removal of the cancer), followed by chemotherapy (use of strong chemical drugs) and radiology (use of radiation) help us CURE people of cancer! 😀 These are harsh treatments but they save people and save our loved ones. I think what we need are scientist to look into natural treatments for cancer (can you imagine, Chocolate cure?), and to look into new prevention methods for cancer. That could be you 😉 Join my cancer research friends here in Sydney and help them kick cancer tushy!
Like Mia points out, cancer touches just about everyone. I’m sure most people know someone who has had it or been affected by it, so it’s a very relevant question.
I’m an optimist, so I genuinely believe that we will have more effective treatments for lots of different types of cancer in the near future. If you look back in time at treatments 20, 30 years ago, you can see how far we’ve already come, so it makes sense that we’ll keep making better technologies.
One of the projects my research group works on is a way of making cancer cells glow, so surgeons can find tumours more easily and remove them completely. Lots of different research groups are contributing their own little parts to the puzzle!
It’s a very good question, and a very tough one. Cancer gets a lot of publicity there is no doubt, but the publicity it gets can be misleading.
The treatment we have like chemotherapy might rid a person of cancer. But there is also a LOT of research going into trying to find ways to stop different types of cancers in their tracks, because there are so many different types, and they can’t be stopped the same way. This can involve all sorts of things like trying to knock out proteins that help cancers grow and move around the body, or trying to cut blood supply off to tumours. Part of the problem with all of these new technologies is that cancer cells are just normal cells, but with one or two tiny changes that suddenly makes them grow out of control and consume the vital parts of our bodies. So a treatment might target a cancer cell, but might make the rest of you very sick because it’s hard to only get the cancer cells and not normal cells too. This means we might have 3 different new treatments for different cancers in the next ten years, or we might have none, it’s so hard to predict. But it potentially only takes one massive breakthrough! The good thing is though, technology moves pretty quickly, so hopefully there are good things to come.
Good question!! One of the reasons I left cancer research is that it was very frustrating working on such a big complex problem and that my friends and family used to ring me and ask the same thing!
Each of the hundreds of different types of cancers have some unique pathways which means they each need a different approach to the ‘cure’. But is now thought that up to 1/3 of cancers are due to poor lifestyle choices – ie what you put in your mouth! And what you do to your body. So cutting out or down the ‘naughty’ things can help!
There are cancers that can be treated now and allow people to live their lives. However there are some more difficult cancers that are not easily treated. For these new cures are being made – we just need to wait and see if these new cures will work!
jacob
That is a very though provoking question, well done! I wish I had a solid answer for you. My grandmother died of cancer, a cousin of mine did well in kicking cancer butt, and one of my childhood friends was diagnosed with a rare cancer just a little while ago. Your question to me is a very personal one. I will try my best to answer it for you. The tricky part about cancer research is that there are so many cancers out there. These cancers are located in different parts of the body, and are caused by different things. For example, skin cancer is caused, by too much sun exposure. Slip, slop, slap! Lung cancer caused by smoking, please don’t smoke! and so on. I don’t think we will ever be able to prevent every single cancer out there, and there won’t be a magic cure for them all. Cancers are very complicated, but there is a silver lining! Surgery (removal of the cancer), followed by chemotherapy (use of strong chemical drugs) and radiology (use of radiation) help us CURE people of cancer! 😀 These are harsh treatments but they save people and save our loved ones. I think what we need are scientist to look into natural treatments for cancer (can you imagine, Chocolate cure?), and to look into new prevention methods for cancer. That could be you 😉 Join my cancer research friends here in Sydney and help them kick cancer tushy!
0
Like Mia points out, cancer touches just about everyone. I’m sure most people know someone who has had it or been affected by it, so it’s a very relevant question.
I’m an optimist, so I genuinely believe that we will have more effective treatments for lots of different types of cancer in the near future. If you look back in time at treatments 20, 30 years ago, you can see how far we’ve already come, so it makes sense that we’ll keep making better technologies.
One of the projects my research group works on is a way of making cancer cells glow, so surgeons can find tumours more easily and remove them completely. Lots of different research groups are contributing their own little parts to the puzzle!
1
It’s a very good question, and a very tough one. Cancer gets a lot of publicity there is no doubt, but the publicity it gets can be misleading.
The treatment we have like chemotherapy might rid a person of cancer. But there is also a LOT of research going into trying to find ways to stop different types of cancers in their tracks, because there are so many different types, and they can’t be stopped the same way. This can involve all sorts of things like trying to knock out proteins that help cancers grow and move around the body, or trying to cut blood supply off to tumours. Part of the problem with all of these new technologies is that cancer cells are just normal cells, but with one or two tiny changes that suddenly makes them grow out of control and consume the vital parts of our bodies. So a treatment might target a cancer cell, but might make the rest of you very sick because it’s hard to only get the cancer cells and not normal cells too. This means we might have 3 different new treatments for different cancers in the next ten years, or we might have none, it’s so hard to predict. But it potentially only takes one massive breakthrough! The good thing is though, technology moves pretty quickly, so hopefully there are good things to come.
2
Good question!! One of the reasons I left cancer research is that it was very frustrating working on such a big complex problem and that my friends and family used to ring me and ask the same thing!
Each of the hundreds of different types of cancers have some unique pathways which means they each need a different approach to the ‘cure’. But is now thought that up to 1/3 of cancers are due to poor lifestyle choices – ie what you put in your mouth! And what you do to your body. So cutting out or down the ‘naughty’ things can help!
Cheers, Mel
0
There are cancers that can be treated now and allow people to live their lives. However there are some more difficult cancers that are not easily treated. For these new cures are being made – we just need to wait and see if these new cures will work!
0