What can we do to BETTER concentrate our financial and intellectual resources towards the cure for cancer?

The USA is by far the world's leader in medical research funding, productivity and knowledge. Yet by ALL measures we are not doing enough. We NEED to "crack some heads together" and bring the best minds into a "room" and force them to come to some solutions (typical and atypical solutions).





Almost half the people alive today will have cancer in their lifetimes.





That's a damn epidemic. And what are we doing about it? If you went back and added up all the budgets for the National Cancer Institute over the past THREE DECADES, we spent as much money on cancer as we spend in Iraq in NINE MONTHS.





It's time for a bold initiative to combat this disease which kills 560,000 Americans every year.

What can we do to BETTER concentrate our financial and intellectual resources towards the cure for cancer?
Unfortunately, each cancer is different. And each set of cancer cells undergoes mutation and natural selection within the patient during the course of tumorigenesis. That is the challenge. It's not like treating a virus or pathogen. These cells are made of the patient's own tissue! Harder, much harder. Still,





the key to managing cancer is as follows:





(1) Synergistic drug combinations to target multiple signaling pathways gone awry in cancer





(2) Targeting drugs to tumor (and not normal tissue) via nanoparticles; use of these nanoparticles for imaging and detecting tumors and metastases as well





(3) Management of a cancer's mutation and natural selection. Simplistically speaking, drive the selection pressure of the cancer in one direction, leaving behind a handfull of selected cells that are resistant to the primary agent but are known to be sensitve to the secondary agent.
Reply:oh you mean by being more than the only nation who even tries to find obscure cures for diseases that only one percent of one percent of the actual population has?





or maybe you mean by researching diseases that less than one percent of one percent of the population will ever even hear about much less experience, such as hypoganagobulinameinia?





see... no one can cure cancer because it is caused by two things... flawed genes, that should not have been passed on and, as a result of some foolish desire to have sex no matter what the cost, lead to the death of the resultant child involved... and in fact to generations of people should the resultant child have managed to mate...





or by exposure to mutanegenic compounds such as, oh say the sun, glow in the dark watches (look up madam curie), or a multitude of modern products that alter dna by the very nature of the tech imployed
Reply:You are referring only to government funding. There is a great deal more coming from the private sector which is much more effective - skips the bureaucracy.





Also, you refer to cancer as if it is a single disease. There are an incredible number of varieties and each requires it's own special solution. The best minds are working on the problems and each solution they find is a step towards eradicating cancer but there is no way to force a scientific breakthrough. Already amazing strides have been made in understanding, preventing and curing so many kinds of cancer.





So, what can we do? Each of us can do our part - become educated about lifestyle changes we can make to reduce our chances of getting cancer. Wear sunscreen and give up tanning to prevent skin cancer. Protect yourself and get tested for HPV to prevent cervical cancer. Stop smoking to prevent lung, mouth, and throat cancer. Do regular breast or prostate exams. Eat a diet high in antioxidants. Share what you know with others and encourage them to do the same. Be there for your friend who is fighting for their life against cancer. Support your preferred cancer research foundation. Participate in the Susan G Koman Race for the Cure and other awareness activities.





But whatever you do, don't expect the government to be able to fund a team of super-scientists to come up with a magic cure. That only happens in Hollywood.
Reply:http://www.knowledgeofhealth.com
Reply:Ban Viagra and Cialis. Sue the companies that made them for causing the increase in STD's in the elderly. Force them to donate all their proceeds to Cancer Research. Perhaps the brilliant geniuses who did r and d on those drugs will gravitate toward cancer research.

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