One of the tricky things about cancer is that the different kinds are all really different diseases in their own right. In some kinds of cancer we are actually close to being able to treat most patients really effectively (for example testicular cancer). As we learn more, it seems likely that each patient’s disease has it’s own particular “quirks”. So, the most effective new treatments are probably going to be “personalised” to match each patient. The main problem with this approach is that it will be really expensive.
Even though all cancers are basically cells of the body growing out of control, because their DNA has mutated, there are many different kinds of cancers. Different genes are mutated in different cancers. So we really need to have different, more specific kinds of treatments to treat all of them, and it is unlikely that there will be one single cure for cancer (though we really, really wish there would be). We have some treatments that can be tried for many kinds of cancer – chemotherapy is one, radiation therapy is another, but they don’t work for all cancers. So we are getting to understand *how* we might treat cancers better and working on many kinds of cures. The more scientists there are working on the different kinds of cancers, the better.
but if you have a type of cancer, for example cervical cancer, could there be different mutations of the same type? like there could be multiple ‘versions’ or variants of the same cancer?
tradie
One of the tricky things about cancer is that the different kinds are all really different diseases in their own right. In some kinds of cancer we are actually close to being able to treat most patients really effectively (for example testicular cancer). As we learn more, it seems likely that each patient’s disease has it’s own particular “quirks”. So, the most effective new treatments are probably going to be “personalised” to match each patient. The main problem with this approach is that it will be really expensive.
1
Even though all cancers are basically cells of the body growing out of control, because their DNA has mutated, there are many different kinds of cancers. Different genes are mutated in different cancers. So we really need to have different, more specific kinds of treatments to treat all of them, and it is unlikely that there will be one single cure for cancer (though we really, really wish there would be). We have some treatments that can be tried for many kinds of cancer – chemotherapy is one, radiation therapy is another, but they don’t work for all cancers. So we are getting to understand *how* we might treat cancers better and working on many kinds of cures. The more scientists there are working on the different kinds of cancers, the better.
0