Understanding Cancer
 

I'm someone who believes that knowledge is power. Today I did a quick internet search for a resource on cancer, and found an excellent one. It's based on science. It's comprehensive. And despite the fact that it appears to be 52 pages long in "reading mode," the text is only 28 (short) pages. There are lots of illustrations.

The back matter includes a list of references and an extensive glossary.

I'm working on a PhD in social ethics. I was surprised and pleased to see that this paper addresses ethics and ethical decision making. It completely misses some important ethical considerations, but it's an excellent start.

I'm posting this because I think knowing more about what cancer is can help us think about it and respond to it in more helpful, healthful ways than we would without that knowledge. For example, if you run across some supplement or diet or other "cure" for cancer, you will read that with an understanding that cancer is not one disease but 100s of diseases, and that any given person's cancer is a product of his or her genetics, environment, lifestyle, age, sex, and probably many other factors. How can something so heterogeneous and complex have a simple, one-size-fits-all solution?

Here's the link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NB...?report=reader

Re: Understanding Cancer
 

Thanks Mtngrl - you stated the question very well. While I can appreciate the concept of individualized targeting of cancer, I don't see what the mechanism would be that would make it practical (financially) to then design each individually tailored "stuff" (drug?) to suit each patient's multiple diverse individual characteristics.

Maybe I'm just not bright enough to understand the entire picture?

A.A.

Re: Understanding Cancer
 

Hi A.A.,

You're plenty bright. I may not have done a good job explaining why I posted this.

I was thinking more in terms of people not looking for some magic bullet that will "win" the "war on cancer." Or, more to the point, I wanted to say that those of us who have or had cancer should not think there's "one weird trick" that will cure it or keep it from coming back.

I completely agree it's hard to imagine a cost-effective way to tailor each cancer patient's treatment to his or her specific cancer. And yet, what we're doing now isn't all that cost effective either. In a very real sense, every cancer case is unique, just as every human being is unique. Even identical twins eventually experience epigenetic changes that make their bodies different.

It appears that with cancer, the best return on investment is with prevention. I think this article strongly implies that public policy and social norms are more effective than trying to fix cancer after it occurs.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Re: Understanding Cancer
 

The talk about prevention makes sense. Animals are very susceptible to cancer. A few years ago our springer spaniel developed a tumor on his leg. I was away on business and my wife had it removed. When I asked her what it was she said"its nothing, its not cancer. A few years later it grew back. During this period I was giving Beethoven 5mg Melatonin at night as melatonin may have some anticancer properties and is not harmful to dogs according to the internet. When the tumor grew back, I stopped the melatonin.

I asked the vet for the first pathology report. It was a spindle cell tumor. This isnt cancer per say as spindle cell tumours do not metastasize to distant organs. Yet it isnt benign either as the keep growing back as this one did. One difference. Thepath report showed absolutely no spindle cells, just inflammatory cells like macrophages, lymphocytes etc. A much less serious pathology. Beethoven the springer spaniel is back on his nightly melatonin. Was the Melatonin responsible for the better pathology. I cant say for sure but as spindle cell tumours tend to stay spindle cell tumours this is a definitite possibility. In dogs a spindle cell tumour is considered a low grade fibrosarcoma. The second tumour was classed as an inflammatory reaction.

Paul

Re: Understanding Cancer
 

The other reason I think this resource is helpful is it shows that many mutations and changes lead to cancer, and that many other changes in immune response occur that allow the cancer to grow unchecked. That implies that doing all we can to support our immune systems is one of the best things we can do to counteract the cancer.

That is the thesis of Anti-Cancer; A New Way of Life. The author, a brain scientist/MD who had a lethal brain tumor, suggests thinking of the conditions that lead to cancer as a certain kind of "terrain," and that by managing the terrain optimally we give ourselves the best tools for fighting it. There are no hard and fast answers, but we know that cancer is an inflammatory process, so eating antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods might be helpful. We know stress hormones suppress the immune system, so it's a good idea to manage stress. We know that exercise boosts and supports the immune system, so it's a good idea to get some exercise (but not too much.) All of these things work together and reinforce each other.

The author eventually did succumb to his brain cancer, but one of the most important points he makes in the book is this: he said that not only did the changes he made help him live with his brain tumor much longer than most people do, but he had a better life. He became more grateful, less anxious, less moody, more fun to be with. That's priceless.

Re: Understanding Cancer
 

Good article Amy, (though I see it was published in 2007, so it only covers what was known up till then) however this is still a valid and very useful primer that is well written

I so agree that prevention is important. And I think another valuable area is how we can fix damaged or absent parts of our own defence system so they can clear the cancer out of our bodies. Researchers are learning how cancers knock our cancer suppression systems out, and how to undo this when it happens. I think there are vaccines that work on this basis, which sounds as if they could eventually work on about half the different kinds of cancer.

My sense is that when researchers fully understand how cancers metastasise and how to stop them from doing so, cancers like breast cancer will stop being a fatal illness. I think it is quite possible there is some mechanism involved that is as simple as "bacteria and other microorganism" for causing many diseases, and the discovery that washing hands between dissecting cadavers and delivering babies or operating on healthy people prevented infection.