science takes 20 years to figure out what most of us already knew?

[True Grit Farms]

The only 100% 'cure' for cancer is the graveyard and I'm not even sure about it then.

Sadly, true. My son has a decade of cancer research under his belt. I enjoy talking to him about it. Cancer is a very broadly used term. Any cell of the body can be the site of a cancer.

Cancer has its beginning at the molecular level of the cell. A screw up at the atomic level in any cell of the body and you have the making of a cancer. Clint told me everyone will get cancer if they live long enough.

Grit, the reason cancer has no cure - because you don't know you got it until the only option is treatment, not cure.

That's a cop-out Ron. For starters we need a vaccine against cancer. And the treatment deal I don't buy either, does the treatment cure cancer? Why does the treatments for cancer work for some and not for others? AIDS treatments work for everyone that can afford them. So this tells me all the money spent on cancer research has been wasted?
I look at everything evil as being money related, and cancer research and treatments is where the money's at.

 

[Margonme]

The only 100% 'cure' for cancer is the graveyard and I'm not even sure about it then.

Sadly, true. My son has a decade of cancer research under his belt. I enjoy talking to him about it. Cancer is a very broadly used term. Any cell of the body can be the site of a cancer.

Cancer has its beginning at the molecular level of the cell. A screw up at the atomic level in any cell of the body and you have the making of a cancer. Clint told me everyone will get cancer if they live long enough.

Grit, the reason cancer has no cure - because you don't know you got it until the only option is treatment, not cure.

That's a cop-out Ron. For starters we need a vaccine against cancer. And the treatment deal I don't buy either, does the treatment cure cancer? Why does the treatments for cancer work for some and not for others? AIDS treatments work for everyone that can afford them. So this tells me all the money spent on cancer research has been wasted?
I look at everything evil as being money related, and cancer research and treatments is where the money's at.

A cure and a treatment are not the same. If you think there will be a single vaccine to immunize the population against all forms of cancer, you are living with the elves.

Cancer is complex. Most cancers originate as a result of some agent causing a permanant disruption of cellular physiology. It can be agents from smoking, the by-products of the chlorination of drinking water, inhaled solvents from doing auto body work or genetic predisposition. Even if you lived in a totally benign environment, you still may develop cancer. Once it starts, it is usually treated into remission. There will be cures for cancer but it will not be a single method that cures all cancers. Cancers are much too diverse.

All cancer research is not productive. But it is an extreme exaggeration to say all cancer research has been a waste.

 

[boondocks]

TG, way back in the dark ages we started calling tumors "cancers." Here's a short little write-up on the history of the term: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =130754101
As Margonme explained, there really isn't "cancer" but cancers--hundreds if not thousands of them. Every cancer starts from one rogue cell. ONE. Every one of us probably has a hinky cell or two in our body right now. Luckily, our immune system has evolved to be able to recognize when a cell is starting to misbehave, and sends special cells out to kill, eat up and then dispose of the hinky cell. This happens throughout your whole life time, but as we age and are exposed to more carcinogens (thru our diet and environment), our immune system weakens and one day, lets a hinky cell slip by. It begans to divide, and soon you have a bunch of hinky cells, which can then become a mass, for example.
So you can't have "a" vaccine for "cancer" because it's not a single disease, but hundreds of them. Genetics plays a huge role too; as we now know (from that research you hate so much), some cancers have very strong familial links, like breast, colon, and ovarian cancers. Others have very strong environmental trigger links (lung, kidney). But lots of cancers are just a combination of genes, environmental toxins, aging, and bad luck.
Margonme raises a very good point: you often don't feel real bad with cancer until it's pretty advanced. TG, you raise the issue of success treating HIV. You're forgetting that a large number of people have it and don't know that they do, so are NOT being treated for it. It can cause an early flu-like syndrome, but if you're not diagnosed then (and don't get regularly screened for it), you may go through a period of feeling pretty good for a few years. Quietly though, it's destroying your immune system that whole time.
Ok, hope all that doesn't keep y'all awake tonight

 

[True Grit Farms]

This happens throughout your whole life time, but as we age and are exposed to more carcinogens (thru our diet and environment), our immune system weakens and one day, lets a hinky cell slip by. It begans to divide, and soon you have a bunch of hinky cells, which can then become a mass, for example.

Young kids get cancer all the time, and their bodies don't seem to be able to fight cancer off like older folks. Young folks getting cancer really pains me the most.

Genetics plays a huge role too; as we now know (from that research you hate so much), some cancers have very strong familial links, like breast, colon, and ovarian cancers. Others have very strong environmental trigger links (lung, kidney). But lots of cancers are just a combination of genes, environmental toxins, aging, and bad luck.

Well that's good to know, if your family has a history of something you might also? I think everyone since the beginning of time had this figured out already. And I dang sure don't believe in luck, you make your own, because somethings in life are just out of our control. But I'll leave that there.

 

[boondocks]

This happens throughout your whole life time, but as we age and are exposed to more carcinogens (thru our diet and environment), our immune system weakens and one day, lets a hinky cell slip by. It begans to divide, and soon you have a bunch of hinky cells, which can then become a mass, for example.

Young kids get cancer all the time, and their bodies don't seem to be able to fight cancer off like older folks. Young folks getting cancer really pains me the most.

Genetics plays a huge role too; as we now know (from that research you hate so much), some cancers have very strong familial links, like breast, colon, and ovarian cancers. Others have very strong environmental trigger links (lung, kidney). But lots of cancers are just a combination of genes, environmental toxins, aging, and bad luck.

Well that's good to know, if your family has a history of something you might also? I think everyone since the beginning of time had this figured out already. And I dang sure don't believe in luck, you make your own, because somethings in life are just out of our control. But I'll leave that there.

A-ha! You are missing the confounding issue of environment! Many family members eat similarly or are exposed to the same toxins. For instance, many families are multi-generational smokers. If members of several generations get lung cancer, is that because of heredity, or environment, or both?
I agree with you that kids should never get cancer. Frankly, the suffering of children is one of the things that has turned me away from a belief in a loving benevolent deity (but that's a story for another day). But kids actually do well with at least some forms of cancer. Leukemia, for example, used to be a death sentence for children but is often now survivable (due to, yes, science): https://www.cancer.org/cancer/leukemia- ... rates.html

 

[TexasBred]

This happens throughout your whole life time, but as we age and are exposed to more carcinogens (thru our diet and environment), our immune system weakens and one day, lets a hinky cell slip by. It begans to divide, and soon you have a bunch of hinky cells, which can then become a mass, for example.

Young kids get cancer all the time, and their bodies don't seem to be able to fight cancer off like older folks. Young folks getting cancer really pains me the most.

Genetics plays a huge role too; as we now know (from that research you hate so much), some cancers have very strong familial links, like breast, colon, and ovarian cancers. Others have very strong environmental trigger links (lung, kidney). But lots of cancers are just a combination of genes, environmental toxins, aging, and bad luck.

Well that's good to know, if your family has a history of something you might also? I think everyone since the beginning of time had this figured out already. And I dang sure don't believe in luck, you make your own, because somethings in life are just out of our control. But I'll leave that there.

Survival of the fittest TG. You love it so just relax and wait for your turn. It will come !!!

 

[True Grit Farms]

This happens throughout your whole life time, but as we age and are exposed to more carcinogens (thru our diet and environment), our immune system weakens and one day, lets a hinky cell slip by. It begans to divide, and soon you have a bunch of hinky cells, which can then become a mass, for example.

Young kids get cancer all the time, and their bodies don't seem to be able to fight cancer off like older folks. Young folks getting cancer really pains me the most.

Genetics plays a huge role too; as we now know (from that research you hate so much), some cancers have very strong familial links, like breast, colon, and ovarian cancers. Others have very strong environmental trigger links (lung, kidney). But lots of cancers are just a combination of genes, environmental toxins, aging, and bad luck.

Well that's good to know, if your family has a history of something you might also? I think everyone since the beginning of time had this figured out already. And I dang sure don't believe in luck, you make your own, because somethings in life are just out of our control. But I'll leave that there.

Survival of the fittest TG. You love it so just relax and wait for your turn. It will come !!!

Definitely just a matter of when not if.