Cure for Cancer

[plastick]

I keep seeing celebrities on commercials talking about fighting different types of cancer and it just annoys me like all the other commercials and adds out there.

To those of you who are immune to the mental vices of the media and pop culture:

Isn't saying that there is a cure for Cancer like saying that there is a cure for evolution?

Just a thought I had.

 

[jonessoda]

I'm not sure exactly how you equate cancer and evolution.

Cancer is a malfunction of the cell that leads to abnormal and unchecked growth and division. If evolution lead to that, we'd still be protobionts.

 

[lupi]

I think you tripped over someones computer on the way to the fridge to treat your celebration munchies.

 

[plastick]

I'm talking about variation on various scales, molecular in particular

 

[venkman]

I was expecting something about Chuck Norris' tears in this thread.

 

[Jeff7]

I don't think cancer can ever be "cured," as in, it will never be eradicated from the species, at least until this species seeks some artificial means of existence, something which doesn't require DNA, or cells. But we can still seek ways to treat it, and at least repair the genetic damage in individuals.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: venkman
I was expecting something about Chuck Norris' tears in this thread.

When the boogeyman goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

My math teacher (a very intelligent woman with lots of common sense) said last year that if we weren't doing all this nuclear stuff, then nobody would have cancer. Because it didn't exist beforehand. Wtf? People didn't even know about germs before the ~1900. Microbiology didn't really exist yet. People probably thought those with cancer were deformed witches.

 

[RossMAN]

Dave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rudee]

WTF are you on?

 

[gururu2]

cancer has haunted every multicellular organism since day one. cancer is a rather general term encompassing every type of genetic defect resulting in abnormal cell proliferation. the number of cancer causes are theoretically infinite (genetic + environmental). there are certain types of causes that result in well studied cancer-leading mechanisms, such as some viral-induced cancers (cervical, kaposi sarcoma), some genetic types (breast cancer) and some chemical/radioactive induced mutations to the DNA repair or cell growth machinery. believe it or not cancerous cells stick out like sore thumbs in the body. it is just really damn hard to stop the cells from travelling into the hardest to reach places. it is foolish to say 'cure for cancer' because there will be many cures for certain cancers well before others. cervical cancer will almost completely be eradicated in the coming generations with the new HPV vaccine, and colon cancer will be much lower with more abundant colon screening, same with breast cancer. other cancers may take much longer because we don't have methods to isolate/prevent them.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
My math teacher (a very intelligent woman with lots of common sense) said last year that if we weren't doing all this nuclear stuff, then nobody would have cancer. Because it didn't exist beforehand. Wtf? People didn't even know about germs before the ~1900. Microbiology didn't really exist yet. People probably thought those with cancer were deformed witches.

I view cancer as a sort of "luxury disease" - now that we have the medical science to avoid dying of simple, more common illnesses, we have the luxury of dying from more interesting things, stuff that usually takes a longer time to manifest, such as Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, and cancer.
Plus, factor in that there was no good way of accurately diagnosing cancer until recently.

This teacher needs to learn the difference between cause and effect vs coincidence. Radioactive material exists throughout nature. That, and we are irradiated (nearly) every day by something which has been proven to cause skin cancer - sunlight.

I guess by her reasoning, people shouldn't have died from polio or pneumonia before anyone discovered microbes.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
My math teacher (a very intelligent woman with lots of common sense) said last year that if we weren't doing all this nuclear stuff, then nobody would have cancer. Because it didn't exist beforehand. Wtf? People didn't even know about germs before the ~1900. Microbiology didn't really exist yet. People probably thought those with cancer were deformed witches.

I view cancer as a sort of "luxury disease" - now that we have the medical science to avoid dying of simple, more common illnesses, we have the luxury of dying from more interesting things, stuff that usually takes a longer time to manifest, such as Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, and cancer.
Plus, factor in that there was no good way of accurately diagnosing cancer until recently.

This teacher needs to learn the difference between cause and effect vs coincidence. Radioactive material exists throughout nature. That, and we are irradiated (nearly) every day by something which has been proven to cause skin cancer - sunlight.

I guess by her reasoning, people shouldn't have died from polio or pneumonia before anyone discovered microbes.

Exactly. I like the way you put it - "Luxury disease." Most people (in developed countries) live into their 80's now. Back then, you were lucky to make it to your 60's. I mean, back then you were basically dead with an exposed wound. No way to prevent infection meant amputation or death.