• Question: Why iis there a cure for some cancers and not the others because we have the technology and science to figure out the cure so why dont we?

    Asked by lilzatron to Susanne, Robert, Mariana, Clare on 9 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Robert Insall

      Robert Insall answered on 9 Nov 2012:

      Lilzatron, you think we’re much cleverer than we really are. Cancer scientists have to be humble. The moment we think we’ve got something nailed it comes back and bites you.
      There are cures for a few cancers. There are fixes for a load more that keep you going for another ten or twenty years. And there are some we are absolutely clueless about curing.
      The trouble is cancer is so, so complicated, and so is normal healthy human life. There’s so much more to learn…

    • Photo: Susanne Muekusch

      Susanne Muekusch answered on 9 Nov 2012:

      I fully agree with Robert. Scientists were excited some 30 years ago because they thought they are close to find a cure. Today we are not that optimistic anymore, because we understood that everything turned out a lot more complicated than everyone thought.
      I can give you an example on the diversity of cancer and why some can be effectively treated and others not. Certain types of blood cancers (leukemia) can be treated quite well in contrast to for example brain cancers. Here is why:
      First, it is easy to deliver drugs into the blood via infusion. It is hard to get drugs into the brain via the blood, because our brain is protected by a natural filter not allowing the drugs to get inside.
      Second, leukemia can be treated with aggressive treatment which will also kill the normal blood cells. After the treatment, these patients then get transplants from healthy donors to supply them with normal blood cells again. Probably you can already see where this is going: we cannot transplant brains! Also, the brain is a really important organ, so the treatment cannot be so agressive that the normal brain will be affected.
      but: a lot of people are working on the problem on how to at least improve- probably not cure- different types of cancer.

    • Photo: Clare Taylor

      Clare Taylor answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Great answers from Robert and Susanne! I would have said pretty much the same – we are complex and cancer is complex and we still have a lot of work to do to understand everything that is going on before we can develop therapies for some forms of cancer.

Comments

  • Photo: Robert

    Robert commented on :

    Lilzatron, your question about cancer spreading came too late in the day for me to answer it – keep sending questions through this site and these questions and I’ll try and answer more for you. RI