• Question: If we find out a cure for cancer do you think that as the time pass cancer will become more powerful so we will need to find another cure?

    Asked by Ines Pérez to Eoin, Ester, Ildiko, Natasha, Paul, Tom on 8 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by Samthescientist.
    • Photo: Natasha Myhill

      Natasha Myhill answered on 8 Nov 2017:

      Interesting question. I think that it will be so hard to find a single cure for cancer, but we can work on really good treatments. If we did find a way of preventing cells becoming cancerous, I doubt that we would need to find another cure. Unlike bacteria that constantly evolve and adapt to become stronger, cancer comes from our own cells that have DNA damage and mutate. So if we stop DNA from being damaged then cancer shouldnt happen. However, if we just treat cancer with drugs, a patient might develop drug-resistant cancer and that is hard to treat.

    • Photo: Ester Gil Vazquez

      Ester Gil Vazquez answered on 9 Nov 2017:

      The problem with cancer is that each cancer is a “New game”. You start with a cell that mutates, grows, becomes more resistant and stronger. And each cell does it in a different way, that is why we need so many different treatments – one for each type of tumour. However, if we get to the point of being able to cure all the cancers, I think we’ll be done. One cancer can’t “learn” from another cancer that developed time ago in a different patient, like bacteria do, because they are completely unrelated: they’ll never mix. The problems with resistances happens when the same person has several tumours, because this ones are related and can learn – this is the main problem we are facing nowadays. But if we overcome this, I think cancer will loose!

    • Photo: Paul McKeegan

      Paul McKeegan answered on 9 Nov 2017:

      Natasha and Ester are definitely the experts on this one. It’s definitely a scary thought…
      One interesting factoid is that the metabolic behaviour of cancer cells is surprisingly similar to that of an early embryo. I hope that we will investigate the similarities further and our understanding of each system could help understand the other.

    • Photo: Eoin McKinney

      Eoin McKinney answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      Cancer always evolves and ‘escapes’ from whatever is trying to kill it. This is partly due to high mutation and division rates. New mutations help it find new ways to avoid being killed – its exactly like evolution of species, only its happening inside the body all the time. Our best hope of properly ‘curing’ cancer is to get the immune system to recognise it. Our immune responses can evolve too, and stay one step ahead of the cancer.

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