I just want to link to the following blog post. Since it provides an interesting insight which most people overlook.
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalre...-stat.html
It seems that instead of curing more people of cancer. We are now diagnosing it earlier and earlier. Which gives the statistical illusion that people are living longer with cancer. When - in fact - most of the treatments are not helping them to live any longer in absolute terms.
Personally I am very pessimistic about any cancer cures. It seems that cancer is too closely linked to the very cell division which is at the basis of all biological life. And as such - I feel - that where there is life, there will also be cancer. Eradicating cancer from life - would be like eradicating heat from fire. It seems to me the two are too inextricably linked together.
Of course - I hope I am wrong.
Still - the whole field is very interesting. My favourite book of the past couple of years was The Emperor Of All Maladies. It is a history of the fight against cancer, and went on to win the Pulitzer prize. It is written by a cancer researcher, and was his first book. That it went on to win the Pulitzer prize is very impressive.
http://www.amazon.com/Emperor-All-Maladi...1439170916
Recently - cancer researchers have searched for new insights and fresh ways of thinking. As such, scientists - with no experience in this field - have being comissioned to have a crack at trying to find new approaches.
The physicist, Paul Davies, was one of those who was approached. It is both inspiring and slightly worrying that cancer researchers are looking for complete newcomers to help them look at things anew.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110601/f...4020a.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scien...ancer.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/...ogical-age
Now - traditionally, cancer specialists have seen cancer as being due to random mutations in a cell - which then causes it to go out of control by dividing at much faster rates than ordinary healthy cells. And thus becoming cancerous.
This would lead one to imagine that massive animals like whales - would develop cancer much more frequently than humans. Since whales can live much longer than humans - and have far more body cells due to their massive weight. Hence - there are far more opportunities for a random cancerous mutation to occur.
Yet - for some reason they don't develop cancer any more frequently than humans.
http://www.nature.com/news/massive-anima...on-1.12258
This may open an avenue for some interesting developments.
Lastly - to end on an optimistic note. Here is a brilliant article by Stephen Jay Gould discussing his cancer diagnosis. It is an explanation of the differences in averages, medians and means when analysing how long an expected life expectancy will be after diagnosis.
It turns out that there can be very large differences in the different types of averages used when giving such a diagnosis. And understanding this is a powerful, and often reassuring (in the case of Stephen Jay Gould) concept when dealing with such estimates.
http://www.cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalre...-stat.html
It seems that instead of curing more people of cancer. We are now diagnosing it earlier and earlier. Which gives the statistical illusion that people are living longer with cancer. When - in fact - most of the treatments are not helping them to live any longer in absolute terms.
Personally I am very pessimistic about any cancer cures. It seems that cancer is too closely linked to the very cell division which is at the basis of all biological life. And as such - I feel - that where there is life, there will also be cancer. Eradicating cancer from life - would be like eradicating heat from fire. It seems to me the two are too inextricably linked together.
Of course - I hope I am wrong.
Still - the whole field is very interesting. My favourite book of the past couple of years was The Emperor Of All Maladies. It is a history of the fight against cancer, and went on to win the Pulitzer prize. It is written by a cancer researcher, and was his first book. That it went on to win the Pulitzer prize is very impressive.
http://www.amazon.com/Emperor-All-Maladi...1439170916
Recently - cancer researchers have searched for new insights and fresh ways of thinking. As such, scientists - with no experience in this field - have being comissioned to have a crack at trying to find new approaches.
The physicist, Paul Davies, was one of those who was approached. It is both inspiring and slightly worrying that cancer researchers are looking for complete newcomers to help them look at things anew.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110601/f...4020a.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scien...ancer.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/...ogical-age
Now - traditionally, cancer specialists have seen cancer as being due to random mutations in a cell - which then causes it to go out of control by dividing at much faster rates than ordinary healthy cells. And thus becoming cancerous.
This would lead one to imagine that massive animals like whales - would develop cancer much more frequently than humans. Since whales can live much longer than humans - and have far more body cells due to their massive weight. Hence - there are far more opportunities for a random cancerous mutation to occur.
Yet - for some reason they don't develop cancer any more frequently than humans.
http://www.nature.com/news/massive-anima...on-1.12258
This may open an avenue for some interesting developments.
Lastly - to end on an optimistic note. Here is a brilliant article by Stephen Jay Gould discussing his cancer diagnosis. It is an explanation of the differences in averages, medians and means when analysing how long an expected life expectancy will be after diagnosis.
It turns out that there can be very large differences in the different types of averages used when giving such a diagnosis. And understanding this is a powerful, and often reassuring (in the case of Stephen Jay Gould) concept when dealing with such estimates.
http://www.cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html