• Question: Will ther ever be a cure for cancer

    Asked by Ragidoll to Andy, Duane, Giovanna, Katie, Theresia on 7 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Theresia Mina

      Theresia Mina answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      Hello Ragidoll,

      Difficult question, yes I believe there will be.. We’re in much fortunate position now than decades ago, in which people can be screened early so the effect of cancer isn’t as deadly as before. I think rather than finding the cure, scientists are working towards “prevention”, finding the “origin” and how to curb it before it’s too late. Cancer cells are so smart they keep escaping the trap we create to destroy them, but there’s new inventions like using cool nano-particles that can “smell” cancer cells and deliver drugs straight away to the tumour core…I suppose the battle will go on for some time!

    • Photo: Duane Mellor

      Duane Mellor answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      Hello Ragidoll
      Great question, and one that needs to be really thought through.
      First we need to think what cancer is; it is where cells in our body change and replicate and grow out of control. We need our cells to repair and and replace themselves so we cannot stop this process completely. Also as people live longer there is more chance of cells misbehaving and becoming cancerous will increase. I think we can hope to cure cancers in early life, but the sad truth is people will not live forever and it is perhaps in some cases finding the best way to look after people as they age and become ill may be a more realistic goal.

    • Photo: Katie Pickering

      Katie Pickering answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      Hi Ragidoll

      I’d like to think so. We have advanced so much over recent years in our knowledge of the disease that there is no telling what the future holds. Technology also plays a massive role in the detection of the cancerous cells and allowing us to be able to study them in detail. Technology advances so fast that I hope to see a cure in my lifetime.

    • Photo: Andrew Philp

      Andrew Philp answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      Like everyone else, I really like to think that yes we will find direct treatments for certain types of cancer. The difficulty is that cancer biology/metabolism varies significantly from tissue to tissue, tumour to tumour, so this makes it very difficult to take one approach to treat all tumours….

    • Photo: Giovanna Bermano

      Giovanna Bermano answered on 9 Nov 2014:

      Hi Ragidoll
      like my colleagues have said, I would hope that a cure will be available soon but cancer cells are very clever….even if we find a way to stop their growth in one tissue or part of the body not necessary this will work for another cancer cell….in addition I think cancer cells talk to bacteria too much….. they share tricks on how to become resistant to drugs in the case of cancer cells and to antibiotics in the case of bacteria!!!! Lots of work to be done but scientists are getting better and early detection is improving ….we are getting closer but we need the help of everybody and maybe looking after our body by eating and exercising accordingly is a start…..

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