Is it impossible to defeat cancer?
Danish scientists: it will never be possible to completely defeat cancer
Yuri Mikhailenko, TASS
Science in the future is unlikely to find a way to completely defeat cancer, but scientists are likely to be able to translate it into the category of chronic diseases that you can live with for decades. This opinion was expressed in an interview with the Danish scientific Internet portal videnskab.The opinion was expressed by the participants of the conference of the European Society of Medical Oncology in Copenhagen. This year it was visited by 20 thousand researchers from 130 countries of the world.
"I think that the dreams that after millions of years of the disease's existence it will be possible to eradicate it are just an illusion. I don't think we will be able to defeat cancer, but I believe that we will be able to make it a chronic, not a fatal disease," said Jorgen Olsen, head of the research department of the Danish Cancer Society.
Danish biologist Mads Daugor, who works in Canada, agrees with his opinion. Last year he published a sensational scientific paper on a promising technique that in the future may allow treating many types of cancer by delivering drugs to the affected cells using a protein that is naturally used by a malaria parasite.
"We will not find a remedy that can completely cure a cancer patient, but over time our arsenal of methods will expand so much that we will be able to attack the disease from different sides throughout the patient's life. We will be able to build a world in which people will not die from cancer," the famous scientist believes.
One of the main topics of the conference is the use of immunotherapeutic drugs for the treatment of cancer. Medicines, which are still very expensive for the most part, in many cases are able to significantly prolong the life of patients for whom other types of therapy can no longer help.
"Science does not stand still. 40 years ago, only 35% of cancer patients remained alive 5 years after they were diagnosed. Now this indicator has grown to 65%. This is evidence that we are moving in the right direction, and faster and faster," says Olsen. – As new techniques, technologies, discoveries appear, our chances of achieving a breakthrough grow. I look at the prospect of transferring cancer to the category of chronic diseases with much more optimism than 10 years ago."
According to scientists, the main difficulty in the fight against cancer is its ability to mutate and adapt to changing conditions, as well as spread throughout the body, passing into new forms.
"Probably someday we will find that common quality of all types of cancer that can be used in treatment. However, from my point of view, even the most promising broad-spectrum therapy will not be able to solve the problem alone. I am sure that the best solution is to simultaneously beat the disease with different means from different sides," believes Daugor.
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18.10.2016