# If they cured cancer, what would people die of? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276 "2003-03-05T17:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/21 "2003-03-06T11:24:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\* > Anyway, if you begin to chip away at causes of death (as we’ve been doing with increasing speed since 1900), two things happen: Life expectancy increases (duh) and other causes of death begin to claim more by default. > \*\* Exactly. This is an important thing to remember when one hears talk about cancer being on the increase. Part (how large a part I do not know) of that increase is simply that people now do not die of other causes, so cancer automatically increases its share of deaths. ---
**Author:** ![jesseboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90ced4/32.png) [@jesseboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesseboy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/22 "2003-03-06T11:27:45Z")
I have a question: is cancer really something we can cure 100%. isn’t it true that when some people discover they have cancer, the cancer is already in an advanced stage. i thought cancer does irreparable harm. And their is different types, some being much more delicate or difficult to deal than others… wuddya think? ---
**Author:** ![lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lite)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/23 "2003-03-06T11:41:36Z")
hmmmm…I don’t see second-hand smoke anywhere. I thought that was what would kill all the children thus wiping out the human race ---
**Author:** ![bee\_with\_an\_itch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@bee\_with\_an\_itch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bee_with_an_itch)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/24 "2003-03-06T13:42:03Z")
Death, lots and lots of death ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/25 "2003-03-06T14:52:07Z")
**jesseboy** , maybe it’s a cancer vaccine that is invented. Therefor, no damage is done. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/26 "2003-03-06T19:08:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I have a question: is cancer really something we can cure 100%. Well, not yet, of course. But it’s conceivable that we might someday develop a drug or procedure which _can_ cure it 100%, combined with better diagnostic methods to guarantee that we find it early enough for those techniques to work. ---
**Author:** ![jesseboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90ced4/32.png) [@jesseboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesseboy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/27 "2003-03-06T20:15:24Z")
A vaccine? I thought u could only vaccinate for viruses or bacterial strains and such. From what i understand cancer is just something that tends to occur naturally-i don’t think we know the exact causes of cancer, do we? I’m no expert, of course, but cancer’s deadly effectiveness has something to do with the way cells divide and grow. Somebody set this straight, please ---
**Author:** ![KarmaComa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/28 "2003-03-06T21:46:02Z")
People would die of undiagnosed cancer. And scurvy. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276/29 "2003-03-07T01:20:27Z")
**jesseboy** , we really have no idea how a cancer vaccine would work. You’re right that now, vaccines only work for infectious diseases because they introduce foreign proteins that build up an immune response. But maybe once we’ve had some time to genetically engineer designer viruses, we’ll create a viral strain that implants cancer-resistant DNA in living cells. That could, possibly, work as a cancer vaccine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-cured-cancer-what-would-people-die-of/159276.md?page=1)