9 replies to this topic

[Zeitgeist123]

I find myself getting stressed over acquiring this deadly disease without me knowing about it since some of them are asymptomatic, and it seems that lifestyle and diet doesn't guarantee 100% that you wont acquire it. I have 2 relatives on my father side that died of skin cancer despite their brown complexion and my aunt (youngest sister) from my mom side just recently passed away from colon cancer, she's a vegetarian. I also heard of an acquaintance who died from lung cancer even though she's a non-smoker and she is also a swimmer athlete.

Anyway based on your knowledge on the subject, when do you think will (most) cancers be curable? 10 years? maybe sooner, or later? And when I mean curable, it would also mean that its already accessible and inexpensive for the masses to get.

[Italian Ufo]

It is hard to predict. Any predictions can be a speculation on this subject. I believe that lots depends by the lobbies ( pharamaceutical companies and FDA) which they already hide some drugs that counter the spread of cancer and eventually cure it.
Major advancments have been made but for now prevention and regular checks are the only "cure".
If I have to give my personal opinion, I think around 2040-2055 90% of cancer can be curble.
I am instead more optimistic for HiV.

[eacao]

I'd say that the 2050s is quite pessimistic. 2030s more likely at the rate of advancements. 18 years is plenty of time for sufficient health and safety testing as well as refinement. If you take a quick browse through the medical breakthroughs news thread, you will see breakthrough after breakthrough in treatments and bidding cures.

I think that by the late 2020s, prostate, breast, skin, lung and other common cancers will be curable and targeted therapies will be available earlier. 2030s, you will realistically have nothing to worry about. So long as you have a non oil-intensive job

[Zeitgeist123]

im hoping 2020's as well, but i want to know more on your opinion on the matter. btw, what exactly do you mean with oil-intensive job?

[Italian Ufo]

I'd say that the 2050s is quite pessimistic. 2030s more likely at the rate of advancements. 18 years is plenty of time for sufficient health and safety testing as well as refinement. If you take a quick browse through the medical breakthroughs news thread, you will see breakthrough after breakthrough in treatments and bidding cures.

I think that by the late 2020s, prostate, breast, skin, lung and other common cancers will be curable and targeted therapies will be available earlier. 2030s, you will realistically have nothing to worry about. So long as you have a non oil-intensive job

They have had news about cancer for about 50 years now. Even Angelo Vescovi ( famous italian resercher) said that many therapies are promising but to move them from the lab to humans is not a short trip.
Medicine is very complex and it travels at a very slow rate. There is a long road before we find a cure for cancer.

[eacao]

They have had news about cancer for about 50 years now. Even Angelo Vescovi ( famous italian resercher) said that many therapies are promising but to move them from the lab to humans is not a short trip.
Medicine is very complex and it travels at a very slow rate. There is a long road before we find a cure for cancer.

Yes, medicine is very regulated and genetic medicine is very tricky. It will take time, but not 40 years. Technologies which are developed now can be tested and accepted within 20 years, especially as treatments and cures for a disease as collectively threatening as cancer. There are other treatments which are not genetic as well - simpler treatments. One quite publicised one being targeted nano particles which are likely to be in use from the early 2020s. 10 years is ample time for a technology such as that. Other technologies like genetic manipulation of the immune system to register cancer as an infection have already been tried on humans. There is no jump from mice to humans, it is already there, it needs only time for refinement and approval.

im hoping 2020's as well, but i want to know more on your opinion on the matter. btw, what exactly do you mean with oil-intensive job?

When I say oil intensive jobs, I mean jobs which are heavily dependant or based around oil, and with it reaching a peak, with sources pointing towards the mid 2010s (and if you still deny the peak oil theory, then you can at least see the rise in price of oil and economic hardship), you may be in danger of not finding work.
An oil intensive job is, for example a truck driver (and also because of self-driving vehicles), an airline pilot, and of course, an oil driller.

Edited by eacao, 31 May 2012 - 04:13 AM.

[Zeitgeist123]

i still dont see the connection between cancer and non-oil intensive job. is it because fossil fuels causes cancer?

[Italian Ufo]

I mean I believe that in 10-20 years cancer treatment will be much more effective- but I dont know as a patient in 2005-6 I expected lots of treatment to be available now but they are still on the lab and rarely on trial.
Thats where my pessimism orginates. Even if by 2030 we have a potential cure we still need at least 10 years of observation to see the effects of the treatment.

In any case for now one should get annualy checked to keep the body under control. Prevention is the key nowdays.

[MarcusAurelius]

I say the majority of these illnesses woes currently is piss poor detection methods. Sure the increase in the availability of MRI and CAT scans have done alot in the way of early detection but before we come across a single cure or viable treatment we need to up our detection tools. Right now Terahertz scanning is on the forefront for this. As they say prevention is better than cure, and this will remain the case for the coming decades.

http://www.zeitnews....perfection.html

Another tool in the fight for cancer is nanotechnology

http://www.zeitnews....r-research.html

As these tools become ubiquitous in our daily lives screening cancers may become as trivial as putting on a nicotine patch. Whereby active little nanoprobes can scour your bloodstream on a regular cycle alerting the wearer of any anomalous detection. I think in the near future, the war on disease will be analogous to any war. Whereby the price of freedom will be eternal vigilance, Or the price of freedom from disease will be continual and pervasive cell surveillance by all means possible. One can only hope at this point that these tools are ready sooner rather than later.

[eacao]

I mean I believe that in 10-20 years cancer treatment will be much more effective- but I dont know as a patient in 2005-6 I expected lots of treatment to be available now but they are still on the lab and rarely on trial.
Thats where my pessimism orginates. Even if by 2030 we have a potential cure we still need at least 10 years of observation to see the effects of the treatment.

In any case for now one should get annualy checked to keep the body under control. Prevention is the key nowdays.

I mean I believe that in 10-20 years cancer treatment will be much more effective- but I dont know as a patient in 2005-6 I expected lots of treatment to be available now but they are still on the lab and rarely on trial.
Thats where my pessimism orginates. Even if by 2030 we have a potential cure we still need at least 10 years of observation to see the effects of the treatment.

In any case for now one should get annualy checked to keep the body under control. Prevention is the key nowdays.

And what I'm saying is that we already have the potential cures, and that 10 years of observation starts now.

Edited by eacao, 01 June 2012 - 02:40 PM.