• Question: How long do you think it will be before there is a cure for cancer?

    Asked by Emi to Aaron, David, Elaine, Sarah, Zoe on 10 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by Nicholas Clayton, MR TOMTIME.
    • Photo: Aaron Acton

      Aaron Acton answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I think the word Cancer is often misleading as cancer means a disease arising from a genetic defect (a broken gene on your DNA). Lots of things can cause this age, smoking, drinking, the sun, gentics passed on from your mom and dad, diet, the environment. So there are thousands of dirrefent types of cancer all wgich behave differently.

      So in terms of treatment I think the best we can hope for is to identify new ways of detetcing cancer early and to develop/ improve treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

      But there will never be one cure for all cancers!!!!!

    • Photo: David Foley

      David Foley answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      As Aaron says there is no one disease called cancer.

      Different cancers already have different survival and cure rates – leukemia for example used to be a death sentence for kids – now it has a 95% survival rate.

      Other cancers, like pancreatic, liver and stomach cancer are much rarer but also far more deadly. Cures for these may be a long time in coming.

    • Photo: Zoe Roberts

      Zoe Roberts answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Big question and a very broad topic! I think we need to look at the new stats that have come out lately that have shown steps in the right direction. This is an interesting link that shows you what research into cancer looks like. http://www.standuptocancer.org.uk/our-research

    • Photo: Sarah Ashwood

      Sarah Ashwood answered on 21 Nov 2014:

      I think cancer is going to be something that is always a problem – as we develop cures, more mutations occur in the body which lead to new types or strains of cancer.

      It’s a constant battle, and one thing we are getting distinctly better at is diagnosing cancer early which gives us the best opportunity to cure it. Prevention and detection are incredibly important when it comes to cancer, and it is possible that improving those abilities will prove to be more helpful than developing “cures” as there will never be one over-riding cure for all types of cancer.

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