Monday, July 25, 2011

Why Cancer Is Going To Be Difficult To Beat

6:55 PM  CARREVIEWS  25 comments

As homemakesgames said in the last QOTD, cancer is very complicated. There are so many different types of cancers. There is not going to be a single cure for all cancers. Cancer is not a single mutation in our cells, it's a whole bunch of possible mutations that leave the cell unable to receive feedback from its environment or properly repair damaged DNA. Cancerous cells grow blood vessels to bring nutrients in from surrounding, healthy tissue, disrupting them. Not only do they quickly invade healthy tissue, they have figured out a way to cheat death. Ignoring all kinds of growth inhibitors from the rest of the body, cancerous cells circumvent limitations on how many times its DNA can be copied. They have figured out ways to deactivate programmed limits in its own lifespan. This process can occur in many ways, which makes finding a common cure near impossible. If there is only one thing all cancers have in common, it is that, without treatment, their host cannot sustain them.

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25 comments:

Discussinggenetics It's a bit complicated, i bet it would cause many typos. geneticschat? geneticstalk?

I agree with GM, typos would be a problem. Something shorter would be good.

maybe someting simpler like talkgenetics.com or genetix.com

So... I edited this post so that it's my own answer to the QOTD. Whoops. I'll make another post on the new domain name! Sorry about that! Your comments have been read, though. I agree, it should be shorter.

I've already lost someone for cancer... a terrible experience. I don't wish this to anyone, even for my worsts enemies.

Even with millions of dollars being poured into research we still have a long way to go.

A lot of the time, the best way to take out cancer is to exploit the benefits it uses to grow... but that usually leads to patients who can't do much whilst being treated and really makes it a living hell for them. D:

Woohoo, I got the answer right lol! I do think though, even though cancer (and other horrible diseases) are extremely difficult if not impossible to cure, the future is still bright. Medical science is incredible, and doctors can do things now days which were unthinkable even 20 years ago.

Hey thanks for putting my link on your blog, too! I'm thinking of doing something similar soon so when I do you'll be the first I link to :D

Cancer can cheat death? What?!
My grandma died of cancer :(

Its an interesting field and another interesting post on cancer, but yeah essentially the body is supposed to be able to regulate cell growth and mitosis (cells dividing) when there is an error in this, the cells rapidly divide, and these cells contain the same error which then starts a cascade. This is why chemo drug patients lose their hair, cause the drugs are killing fast dividing cells.

Soz I could go on for ages because I was heavily involved in a number of cancer research studies

this is why cancer is so scary. I think prevention is much better than cure in this realm.

This makes curing cancer seem impossible.

It's a hell of a disease...we can only hope that one day our scientists get there.

What a disease. Mutations like this are never good. =[
I haven't lost anyone to cancer yet... hope I never have to.

I first heard of a possible cure for cancer in 1995...

Already lost one family member to this horrible disease, and yes a multi-faceted approach will be needed with quick diagnosis to enable the right "cure" (once we have them all) to be prescribed...till then, much hurt :(

good information here! +followed

Thanks for the good information. I never fully understood cancer. Its hard to understand when the doctors just say its cancer. I have family that have survived cancer many times, and people always ask how. I guess its just the kind they had..

I've heard there was some sort of new treatment that was better at targeting only cancerous cells, since I think one of the main problems of the stronger treatments are the fact that so many healthy cells are lost. I don't know if you've heard anything like that or if my mind just mashed together some random facts I read in Science Illustrated

Its a dificult thing to discusse..

Informative post, just like your usual. This was always what had come to mind whenever I've seen the concept of a full-scale "cure for cancer" popping up in films, television, real life...

I only just popped onto your page, and I am quite impressed.

/Followed

Would love to have you as a guest poster on THE CANCER SHOW blog, possibly with the longer version of this post.

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