Promising New Cancer Treatment: False Hope, or Encouraging?

Every scientist in the medical field who works cancer research desperately wants to be "the one" that finally finds the cure. It is a daunting task - one that has had its share of misrepresentation and outright fraud. This happens sometimes because every media outlet also wants to be the first to report on the "Story of the Century" as it would rightly be known as.

This listing of known cancers clocks in at about 100 different forms; my actual count was 96 but I only counted once and rather quickly. It is not well publicized that every form of cancer is unique, and every person's physiological response to a form of cancer is also unique; not to mention that as a cancer progresses throughout the body, it changes. These traits of cancers make a single, all-emcampasing cure a very difficult prospect and lends to the suggestion that it might take several, even dozens, of unique cures to combat cancer. More detail can be found in an entry to the Daily Kos by "Hobbitfoot."

In spite of the difficulty of finding cures for cancer, the scientific community continues forward; and the thought that a "super cure" to treat all forms of cancer would be impossible, also does not slow the research. Nor does the history of false hopes and fraud keep the media at bay.

Two knew possible cures of cancer have come to light; one involving the typical trial and error lab work involving mice and white blood cells, the other using more modern approaches with cloned T-cell research. Both show positive results in their initial testing, yet both have a long way to go.

Using white blood cells is a promising technique as it was able to remove all cases of cancer in the test subjects and actually protected subjects from the initial onset of cancer. Obviously, positive results in mice are a far cry from curing forms of cancer in humans, but it does allow a window of hope.

Cloned T-cells on the other hand, while considered a success, leaves a lot of room for speculation and error; only one human test subject out of nine was cured. Using skin cancer as the target test also harkens to fraud since approximately 2% of skin cancer patients actually experience spontaneous remission with no need of treatments.

It is important to note that in spite of all the false cures, the fraud, and the failed promises; there is still hope. Scientists have not yet thrown in the towel. Desperate sufferers need to stay informed, however; some people are out to get your money, and others really do want to help. Always keep in mind the age-old mantra; "if it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is."

Sources:

http://www.jamesline.com/cancertypes/listing/index.cfm?Letter=A, a listing of cancers

http://www.infomercialwatch.org/reports/nycpb.shtml, public warning an author's miss-information

http://www.attorneyatlaw.com/2008/06/fda-warns-companies-stop-selling-false-cancer-cures/, FDA warning of false cancer cures

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/21/144057/028, "HobbitFoot" writes about the nature of Cancer

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060509094714.htm, possible new cancer cure as reported by sciencedaily.com

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/19/medicalresearch.cancer?gusrc=rss&feed=science, cloned T-cells to cure cancer