Why haven't we found a cure for cancer? Doesn't that bother anybody?

Question

Only the informed please.

Jenny- you are obviously quite educated, but the point I'm making is to FIND the delivery method that works, find the earliest id method, we are the richest country in the world. Even an international effort? Surely corporate intrests and government apathy contribute to this?

Answer 1

Often, its more profitable to continually charge for drugs that control illnesses rather than to cure them permanently.

Since pharmaceutical companies are in it ultimately for profit, like any business, its not in their best interests to research drugs that would cure illness when they can make more money researching drugs that require continued dependence.

Its not as profitable to cure cancer as it is to continually charge for radiation, chemotherapy and other treatments.

Answer 2

You display a common naive misconception regarding cancer. Namely that it is one disease. It is not. There are hundreds of kinds of cancers and they all have different pathophysiologies.
Some cancers approach 100% curable if treated in time, like acute childhood leukemia, squamous cell and basal cell skin cancer. Some have extremely high 5 year survival rates ( which is the measure of cancer treatment success). Some are still nearly100% fatal, like pancreatic head cancer.
Some are slow growing, some are fast growing and spreading.
Some show correlations with exposures like smoking or asbestos, some with viruses, like cervical cancer.
And hundreds of other parameters. Some treatments are effective on some forms of some cancers, others are not.
Basically, then, there is not A cure that works for all cancer that researchers are missing.
Although in general cancer involves some form of abnormal cell growth, each one has unique properties, requiring unique treatment protocols.

Answer 3

Jenny M is completly correct in what she says. Whats more is was very well explained.

To make matters worse, which cancer? Which cancer do you want to cure because they are all different. Some cancers are caused by viruses, some by random mutation affecting the oncogenes. From the outside these cells look normal, it is virtually impossible to target them without killing healthy cells.

Answer 4

Not really... why, because tumours are regular cells of the body that have been just slightly altered (DNA wise, through things like irradiation). All cells in the body carry name tags that say 'me' (MHC complex of genes that produce cell markers), now imagine that you are at a party and you are in a room full of people that are your twin and have the name tag 'me'. Now imagine trying to find one that has a small tattoo UNDERNEATH their clothing (not visible). That is essentially what the immune system (natural) and cancer fighting drugs have to do, find that individual, kill them and nobody else in the room. To make it even more difficult the cancer or 'tattooed' party guest may or may not act that much differently from anyone else at the party! The war against cancer comes not from the question of if we have tumour killing drugs, but rather do we have drugs that are sensitive to ONLY kill tumour cells.

If you do study cancer drugs, you quickly realize how little of the drug it will take to kill the patient (lethal dose). The way I think of cancer treatment is balancing trying to kill the cancer without killing the patient first. Just my thoughts.

Answer 5

The renowned scientist and inventor, Thomas Edison, said with regard to the importance of preventing rather than treating disease:

The Doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the prevention of disease.

Dr Linus Pauling, twice Nobel prize winner said, you can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.

Modern man deems it well and proper to dump all kinds of man-made garbage into his body instead of what nature gives us and the body can only fight it off so long before poisons get the upper hand. When they do, illness takes over.

Answer 6

for one the drug company's don't want to find a cure for aids or cancer that would stand to lose billions. i do think it is odd that we haven't herd as much as finding a cure for either of these in a while since the new aids drugs came out now i do find that very odd

Answer 7

radiology is believed to be a significant part of the cure, the thing is, usually when cancer is noticed it's already too late to beat it

...probably less people go info sience these days?

Answer 8

The drug companies, those corporate interests, do more than anyone to develop drugs to cure cancer. You are sadly misinfomed.

Answer 9

beacause the correct people have not been placed together.