How come we can find cures for up-and-coming diseases in usually less than ten years, but cancer has existed for so long and there still isn’t a reliable cure?
In: Biology
There isn’t one singular cancer, there are many types of cancers. Each type involves its own ways of developing and spreading.
Cancer begins when a piece of a person’s DNA mutates. Usually mutations happen when a cell is damaged – from radiation, a virus or bacteria, toxins, or as a byproduct of metabolism in the body. We’re all constantly producing & killing those mutated cells all the time. Most of the time, our bodies are expert cancer assassins. But, sometimes the mutation makes the cells multiply and spread faster than the body can eliminate the cancerous cells.
If say, a lung cell is damaged by asbestos, those damaged cells create mesothelioma – a type of lung cancer. Smokers are at risk of squamous cell carcinoma – also a type of lung cancer. Each type of lung cancer starts in different types of cells & responds to different types of treatment. Some are surgically removed, some respond to radiation or drugs (chemotherapy).
There are reliable treatments, and even preventative measures (like getting vaccinated for HPV, a virus that causes genital/oral warts that can damage cells) that are available, but there will most likely never be a one-size-fits-all ‘cure for cancer’.
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