Solomon1 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Cancer Research, is it a big con? Yes And I've already posted a thread and my invaluable thoughts on this topic - but was mortified to find that they were all deleted One can but try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Cancer research gets way more than research for other diseases. But they are making progress. I think that is partly because cancer is has historically been a very difficult field of study with no 'obvious' treatments, e.g. smallpox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob313 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 There won't be "a cure" because cancer is not "a thing". Cancer describes many diseases whereby the cause is a problem with the replication of the bodies own cells. Big Pharma will undoubtedly own many different drugs, effective against many different cancers, and they will make what money they can for the 10 or 15 years they have to monetize the drugs. After which they will be manufactured by other companies and the price will tumble. The NHS of course ensures that treatment is available to all if the treatement is cost effective. There are very few drugs in the UK that are only available to the rich (there are a few that NICE says are cost ineffective and so cannot be prescribed by the NHS). >>> Agree<<< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoGo_dancer Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 >>> Agree<<< Also agree...I think too many people associate the word cancer with tumours but it's much more than that. I just watched my step-dad pass away from Leukaemia which is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, he died 18 weeks after being diagnosed. All those adverts saying 'we will beat cancer' really get on my nerves. Not everyone will be diagnosed quickly enough and not everyone will be a suitable candidate for whatever drugs they come up with so the health services aren't going to waste time and money fighting a losing battle. I used to donate to cancer research but now my money will always go towards palliative care charities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFKvsNixon Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I was going to ask a question on here similar to this, which was why do the drugs cost so much money I heard on the news tonight a new drug for cancer could cost near 100 thousand pounds for a single person. How can it cost that much what makes it that much? I can cost well over a billion to bring a drug to the market, and the the patient for that drug will only last 20 years in the UK and the US. You also then need to take into account how long it can take to bring a drug to market, according to the NHS website 10-15 years. So the drug companies only have on average 5-10 years to make a profit on their drugs before the drug can be made by anybody as a generic drug. You then also has to consider all the money that goes into researching drugs that don't come to the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaznay Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) I have recently just been thinking the same, a relative of mine was diagnosed with liver cancer in December last year with only months rather than years and basically said chemo wouldn't make any difference to life expectancy. Obviously he was devastated as we all were. After searching for anything that might help he was put on to someone who came up with a glimmer of hope for him. To cut a long story short cannabis oil 'cured' him. He went back to weston park in March had a scan and was given the shock news THE CANCER WAS GONE.....even the consultant said she hadn't been able to give anyone that news before, I think they were as shocked as he was. So yes I definitely think there is a cure for some cancers I am not saying one cure kills all cancers but when you think of all the money involved in cancer research charities and the fact that people would be living longer. It makes you wonder what is really going on Edited June 2, 2015 by shaznay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Don't forget that this is not solely a UK thing, the whole world is working on cures, some commercial, some not. And even then, maintaining a lab with a thousand scientists costs a lot of money, more than the charities can muster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loraward Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Also agree...I think too many people associate the word cancer with tumours but it's much more than that. I just watched my step-dad pass away from Leukaemia which is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, he died 18 weeks after being diagnosed. All those adverts saying 'we will beat cancer' really get on my nerves. Not everyone will be diagnosed quickly enough and not everyone will be a suitable candidate for whatever drugs they come up with so the health services aren't going to waste time and money fighting a losing battle. I used to donate to cancer research but now my money will always go towards palliative care charities. I think when they say we will beat cancer they mean prevent cancer, a large amount of research is done in prevention rather than cure, money given to cancer research is used to find the causes, once you know the cause you are closer to prevention. Different cancers have different environmental and life style causes, this knowledge is passed on for free and this gives you the opportunity to change your lifestyle which lowers your risk. They can also ban chemicals that are found to be carcinogenic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 There is no way to avoid all cancer, we can make changes to reduce the amount of it, but cellular machinery is susceptible to damage from many different sources and sometimes goes wrong in such a way as to cause cancer. Early detection is one of the key things in effective treatment, and it's an area that's heavily researched, and then effective treatment, more targeted and specific than chemo or radiotherapy is what's needed. There are many different treatments being researched, different drugs, different delivery mechanisms, the use of viruses for example, stimulating the hosts immune system, blocking metabolic pathways, cutting off the blood supply, all sorts of approaches are being investigated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loraward Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 There is no way to avoid all cancer, we can make changes to reduce the amount of it, but cellular machinery is susceptible to damage from many different sources and sometimes goes wrong in such a way as to cause cancer. Early detection is one of the key things in effective treatment, and it's an area that's heavily researched, and then effective treatment, more targeted and specific than chemo or radiotherapy is what's needed. There are many different treatments being researched, different drugs, different delivery mechanisms, the use of viruses for example, stimulating the hosts immune system, blocking metabolic pathways, cutting off the blood supply, all sorts of approaches are being investigated. That's right, but it is likley that one day most if not all will be preventable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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