# we need a cure or something for cancer **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589 "2012-02-02T22:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/21 "2012-02-03T06:34:05Z")
Oh, a _cure!_ If only someone had thought of this sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/22 "2012-02-03T08:13:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Oh, a _cure!_ If only someone had thought of this sooner. Yeah, most of us were thinking of trying to _spread_ cancer, you know, to cull the weak. ---
**Author:** ![highrollinwooded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@highrollinwooded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/highrollinwooded)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/23 "2012-02-03T12:13:37Z")
People posting callous comments about cancer deaths keeping the population in check have obviously NOT lost a loved one to the horrid disease!!! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/24 "2012-02-03T12:37:55Z")
> [@highrollinwooded](#): > > People posting callous comments about cancer deaths keeping the population in check have obviously NOT lost a loved one to the horrid disease!!! I haven’t posted but I’ve been giggling at them. And yes I have lost a couple of loved ones to the big C. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/25 "2012-02-03T13:34:59Z")
> [@highrollinwooded](#): > > People posting callous comments about cancer deaths keeping the population in check have obviously NOT lost a loved one to the horrid disease!!! Sometimes, laughing at cancer is the best response. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/26 "2012-02-03T14:02:26Z")
The problem is, also, that cancer is not just one thing. There is no cure for cancer per se, there may be cures/vaccines for specific types but never THE ONE cure. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/27 "2012-02-03T14:07:21Z")
The HPV vaccine is not a cure for cervical cancer - the theory is that there are a number of versions of HPV that are driving something like 70% of cervical cancer cases - the other 30% or so, who knows? The prevailing theory is that chronic infection drives processes that lead to dysplasia and then to malignancy. If you can prevent infection by these strains of HPV, then you prevent the cancer. Now, except for the early or pediatric cancers, living long enough to die by cancer, or Parkinson’s or dementia or whatever is itself a victory, having survived or avoided the other competing causes of death. But if you want to avoid the usual cancers, either die early of things like infectious disease or heart disease or the like. Or rid yourself of your complex biological structure: cancer is a matter of deranged processes of complex cells. Now, there is an avenue of research where patients are treated by attempting to trigger immune responses to cancer cells, but the major treatments either involve resection of cancer, or interference with cancer cell biology or destroying cancer cells via heat or cold or radiation. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/28 "2012-02-03T14:51:35Z")
Apparently there already is a cure but because it can’t be patented the pharmaceutical companies want nothing to do with it. (Read: They can’t make money off it.) [http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/the-cure-for-cancer-has-been/](http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/the-cure-for-cancer-has-been/) I’m not surprised at all - cancer brings in Big Money. (I lost my best friend to small cell sarcoma, she was 38.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/29 "2012-02-03T15:20:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > We had a vaccine for cancer, but some doctor said it was causing autism, so people stop using it. Then there was another scientist that developed a cure, but big pharma had the researcher killed and his research destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/30 "2012-02-03T15:54:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Then there was another scientist that developed a cure, but big pharma had the researcher killed and his research destroyed. I think I remember hearing about that. Wasn’t he in the same small plane crash that killed the guy that invented the 200 mile per gallon carburetor? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/31 "2012-02-03T16:18:08Z")
Buddy Holly invented a 200 mpg carburetor? The man was multi-faceted. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/32 "2012-02-03T16:18:31Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Apparently there already is a cure but because it can’t be patented the pharmaceutical companies want nothing to do with it. Horseshit. I’m sorry about your friend, but please be more credulous. Don’t tell the rest of us that there’s a really super-duper easy cure for cancer and nobody cares about it because of impossible coverups. The drug companies would find a way to make money off this if it cured cancer (they’ve spent some money to test it), scientists would want the fame and recognition they would get from a cancer cure, and the press has written about it because there’s always major excitement about progress against cancer. The chemical you’re talking about has some promising aspects but some serious side effects, too, and it may make cancer grow faster in some cases. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/33 "2012-02-03T16:28:22Z")
There will never be a single, all-encompassing cure for cancer, because cancer is a multitude of diseases share only one thing in common: cells growing out of control. Each cancer is unique, even in a particular cancer type. > [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Apparently there already is a cure but because it can’t be patented the pharmaceutical companies want nothing to do with it. (Read: They can’t make money off it.) > > [http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/the-cure-for-cancer-has-been/](http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/the-cure-for-cancer-has-been/) > > I’m not surprised at all - cancer brings in Big Money. > > (I lost my best friend to small cell sarcoma, she was 38.) That’s not a cure for all cancers. At best, it might work as a treatment for a certain subpopulation of people with a certain cancer type. And it’s already in late-stage clinical trials (admittedly not funded by the pharmaceutical industry). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/34 "2012-02-03T16:40:23Z")
Cancer often returns after being removed from the body. You could say that its nature’s “Sock Account.” Why doesn’t Marley just ban it? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/35 "2012-02-03T16:45:18Z")
There are all sort of promising therapies that are “4 or 5 years down the road.” Of course I’ve been hearing that for 20 years. The latest one I’ve heard about is [this:](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57358994/calif-hs-student-devises-possible-cancer-cure/) > [@](#): > > Angela’s idea was to mix cancer medicine in a polymer that would attach to nanoparticles – nanoparticles that would then attach to cancer cells and show up on an MRI. so doctors could see exactly where the tumors are. Then she thought shat if you aimed an infrared light at the tumors to melt the polymer and release the medicine, thus killing the cancer cells while leaving healthy cells completely unharmed. Sounds great but seems like getting 100% attachment rate would be the problem. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/36 "2012-02-03T16:53:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Horseshit. I’m sorry about your friend, but please be more credulous… Oh, I don’t know. I think she’s credulous enough already. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/37 "2012-02-03T17:01:26Z")
[Voila!](http://www.ohri.ca/newsroom/newsstory.asp?ID=269) > [@](#): > > Researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), the University of Ottawa (uOttawa), Jennerex Inc. and several other institutions today reported promising results of a world-first cancer therapy trial in renowned journal Nature. The trial is the first to show that an intravenously-delivered viral therapy can consistently infect and spread within tumours without harming normal tissues in humans. It is also the first to show tumour-selective expression of a foreign gene after intravenous delivery. > [@](#): > > “Oncolytic viruses are unique because they can attack tumours in multiple ways, they have very mild side effects compared to other treatments, and they can be easily customized for different kinds of cancer,” said Dr. Bell. “We’re still in the early stages of testing these viruses in patients, but I believe that someday, viruses and other biological therapies could truly transform our approach for treating cancer.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/38 "2012-02-03T17:01:41Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Oh, I don’t know. I think she’s credulous enough already. Yup, I botched that one. :smack: I meant skeptical or one of its synonyms. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/39 "2012-02-03T17:14:30Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I will. Not that I love cancer, mind you. However, we need to keep our population in check. Too many things that killed people in the past are not killing people today. There are too many people on the planet as it is, and my patience for standing in lines is wearing pretty thin. Well, there’s still obesity. We’ve got that goin’ for us. :: D & R :: ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589/40 "2012-02-03T17:40:14Z")
Well, we know the cause of cancer: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNQvjpwSNBo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNQvjpwSNBo) Let’s start there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-cure-or-something-for-cancer/611589.md?page=3)