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Asked by to Daren, Lynne, Phillip, Simon on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by , , , , .
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Daren Fearon answered on 16 Jun 2014:
This is difficult as cancer isn’t a single disease, it is a term used for a group of diseases which are sometimes defined by their location or type. So it is unlikely that there will be a single cure for all the different types of cancer.
We have drugs that are very effective at killing cancer cells but these also kill any human cells which rapidly reproduce causing very severe side effects, so they are not very appealing. A lot of research now focuses on targeting specific proteins that are either over active or there is too much of them in the cancer cells so we can selectively kill cancer cells and leave the patient unharmed. Protein crystallography plays a key role in this process as it can help us design drugs which specifically target these proteins.
As cancer cells rapidly reproduce they develop mutations and become resistant to the drugs we have. So we then need to start over again and find new drugs. Scientists are also looking at how we can try and avoid this resistance from developing.
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Lynne Thomas answered on 16 Jun 2014:
The answer to this is that there are different kinds of cancer and we are developing effective treatments for some kinds of cancer but once we cure some, we will find new ones emerging. Cancer is basically what happens when some processes in the body start to stop working properly. This is always going to happen as we get older. It is not just a matter of being able to diagnose the cancer early enough to be able to treat it and some cancers will always be more aggressive than others so we have less time to spot them. So it has to be a balance of the two.
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Simon Redfern answered on 17 Jun 2014:
As the others have said, cancers are a whole set of different diseases. Many forms of cancer are treatable, and terrific advances in cancer treatment have been made over recent years. I think that an understanding of gene aspects of cancers will likely lead to further important improvements in cancer treatments in coming years. As people live longer, because health care is improving, so some cancers (that take a long time to develop) may actually become more common.
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anon answered on 17 Jun 2014:
Cancer happens when the DNA in your cells is damaged and they start to grow out of control. We can produce drugs that kill off the damaged cells and that can cure the cancer, but we can’t find a way at the moment to stop DNA damage so cancer will keep happening and is more likely the longer we live.
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Phillip Manning answered on 17 Jun 2014:
Wow….other folks have comprehensively answered this question, but i would just echo that many types are cancer are being successfully treated with new treatments and medicines being developed every day.
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sophiebarraclough3 commented on :
Thank you for the answers, this is really helpful for me as I was wondering about this topic