How come they can't find the cure for cancer?

Question

The amount of ppl that it affects, you'd think that the ppl who run the companies would have found the cure right now. OH! and shouldn't the ppl be giving their materials for free? Like if the cancer researchers needed some sort of medicine shouldnt the ppl at the companies ( that make that kind of medicine) shouldnt they give it to the cancer researchers for FREE? or is it all about making money? what is the world coming to? If you get what i mean.

Answer 1

You really are not asking the right questions. Cancer is not one disease but over 200 different types. At the moment the cancers that receive the most research are the ones receiving the most money . . and that is the most common cancers . . breast, colon, lung, and leukemia. All cancer research money is not created equally . . so some cancers receive a great deal of research while others lag far behind. In order to find a 'cure' for all cancers than more money is needed to conduct such research . . and that is not going to happen because research for cancer . . (despite all the fundraising efforts and pink ribbons and yellow bracelets) is underfunded. The fundraising that is done is just a plink in the bucket . . . as at least that much money is needed on a yearly basis.

And, there have been breakthroughs . . there have been new drugs developed which have stirred tremendous interest in the medical world . . . look up imatinib mesylate and sunitinib to see what effect they have had on people with leukemia and a rare sarcoma called GIST.

Too, consider that every cancer has four stages of disease. Early stages in almost every cancer type is treatable with an good chance of remission and individual cure. It is really stage IV or metastatic cancer that is difficult to manage and cure. It is currently treatable, but remains elusive as far as a 'cure' is concerned.

Also many of the problems associated with cancer research also have to do with actually finding enough cancer patients willing to give their lives in order to test new medicine. I'm not sure how you think new drugs are found for cancer patients, but it is not in a laboratory dish or using lab rats. You need real cancer patients who are seriously ill . . to experiment on. That is asking a great deal of a human being . . they are asked to give up what may remain of their life in order to test a drug that may make them violently ill, kill them, do absolutely nothing, all in exchange for a chance that the medicine might help.

And, no finding new drugs is not all about making money . . it's about finding cures for some pretty horrendous diseases . . its about sacrificing ill cancer patients and asking them to test out new drugs in order to some day help those who follow. Research is slow because they use real humans to test these drugs . . . and frankly, most cancer patients do not want to do that. Until you can reconcile new treatment research and the ethics of using cancer patients to test new drugs . . . research will always be too slow. So . . no . . it is not all about money, if you know what I mean (which you probably don't . . because you've never been in this situation and are just speculating). . . . research is about trying to find answers using real human beings as guinea pigs . .and doing it in a compassionate and ethical manner. I doubt you will ever understand.

Answer 2

Well, in the future there probably will be a cure for it. After all, years ago no one knew any cures for things we do now. However I still think that the only reason we haven't found anything yet is because we don't want to. If they found a cure for everything, we would over populate and everything would eventually die from lack of food and whatnot. Plus, the more people that have cancer and get treatment, the more money people make.

Then again, it may not have a cure. There's no way EVERYTHING can be cured. Unless of course we were to live in a completely un-poluted, perfect environment like before the major illnesses were spread around. Sometimes I honestly think the world would be a better place if humans would have never exsisted...
But that's a whole other thing xD

Answer 3

As mentioned, cancer is not one condition but, a rather large group of diseases each with the common symptom of uncontrolled cell growth. There are many different sets of genetic mutations which may lead to cancer. Each specific set and the type of cells involved is a single disease. So, one "cure" for all cancers is unlikely.

Currently, not one single disease caused by genetic mutations has been cured. Most of the genetic diseases we hear about come from genetic mutations which the sufferer is born with. In the case of case, some or all the mutations are accumulated during one's lifetime by exposure to carcinogens.

There are 2 approaches to cancer therapy:
1) Kill the cancerous cells
2) Fix the cancerous cells or the proteins they produce

Most the work done to date has been on killing cancerous cells. The current approaches include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, abalation, etc.

The fact is we do not have the technology to identify or fix genes in a living being.

However, recent advances have lead us to new treatments which target some of the proteins produced by cancer cells. In the case of Ph+ CML, Ph+ ALL and, GIST, new drugs can prevent proteins from signalling cell division. Other drugs may target overexpressed proteins.

So, in summary, there is progress being made. However, cancer is much too complex for people to be making broad statements like yours.

Answer 4

There are effective treatments...but think about it, big money is involved here. The drug companies are making billions off these cancer drugs and many research centers are getting millions of $ for doing research to find a cure for cancer.

Check out this site for cellular defense. My girlfriend's cat was diagnosed with cancer last year and we started giving her this stuff. The vet said she was a goner and was going to put here to sleep. She's doing very well now. You can find it on the web, just do a search.

The drug companies are very powerful and spend lots of money to protect their intrests. Just check out the article below.

The Center for Public Integrity released a new report finding the pharmaceutical lobby flooded Washington with $155 million from January 2005 to June 2006, employing a stunning 1,100 lobbyists. One public health advocate rightly said, "we are up against an army."

Answer 5

would you do your job for free? I suspect not, you have to live, right? so does everyone else. A famous author once wrote, "There's no such thing as a free lunch" and he was right, nor should there be. We live in a society where we EARN what we have by the sweat of our brows, so to speak. In other words, we work for wages in order to live. ALL of us.
As for a cure, if there were only one cancer around, there probably would have been a cure long ago, but there are almost as many different forms of cancer as there are people who have it, so don't look for an over all cure any time soon.

Answer 6

There are so many types of cancers, and everyone's body chemistry is different - what works for some folks may not work for others. Unfortunately cancer research is a business, and the scientists who do the work rightly expect to get paid.

Answer 7

Cancer is not just one disease but a large group of diseases.

Different forms of cancer respond to different treatments.

There is also a difference depending on where the cancer occurs.

As treatments become more widespread they get cheaper.

However, those developing treatments desrve adequate compensation for the time, effort and expence of their research, so treatments can be expensive unless there are subsidies available.

Answer 8

I have lost family to cancer and after reading Many articles online I have come to the conclusion that there is no cure for it would put too many hospitals,ect. & DRUG COMPANIES especially out of business!
It is an outrage!

Answer 9

Maybe because the cause is usually either genetics or all the toxic crap we dump into our air, water, and bodies. Maybe if we weren't eating and breathing chemicals, there would be very few cases of cancer. I think most drugs are mostly about the money.

Answer 10

it would put too many people out of work..