The average man has a 39.66% chance of being diagnosed with cancer, while for the average woman it’s 37.65%. In the UK, it causes around 28% of all deaths. There are many different forms of cancer, some more life-threatening than others. There are countless charities focusing on things like research into specific cancers and trying to develop treatments to help those diagnosed with a form of cancer. The ultimate aim, of course, is to be able to prevent all types of cancer from occurring and to reduce the death rate from cancer to zero. But is this possible?
The simple answer to this question is no. We won’t see an all-round cure for cancer in out lifetimes, at least. Cancer isn’t just a single disease: it’s a large collection of diseases, many of which can be vastly different from one another. They’re grouped together as cancer because they all have a similar beginning. They start off when cells begin to reproduce and go on to multiply too much, when can go on to cause problems. From then on, different cancers can affect the body in many different ways and can go on to have many different short- and long-term effects. Because there are lots of different types of cancer and cancers can develop in different ways, finding a single cure for cancer (all types, that is) will be extremely difficult.
Having said that, though we may not see a cure for all types of cancer in our lifetime, what we’re pretty much guaranteed to see is continued improvements to the treatments of different cancers. Research is ongoing and is steadily improving the way certain cancers are treated and how the lives of those affected by cancer are made to be as comfortable, enjoyable and worthwhile as possible. Survival rates for certain cancers, include cancer of the prostate and breast, have significantly increased over the last few decades thanks to research. More than half of all people who receive a cancer diagnosis of any kind go on to survive it and get the all-clear. However, the percentage of people being diagnosed with cancer is steadily increasing. Not only is more research into treatments and cures needed, research into the prevention of cancers is also desperately. Fortunately though, that research is ongoing too and hopefully we’ll see the cancer diagnosis rates decrease and the survival rates continue to increase.
Generations from now, there may well be some sort of magic solution that cures you of cancer or even guarantees that you’ll never get cancer of any kind at any time in your life. However these days, cancer is still a deadly disease that remains one of the most common killers of humans. The good news is that, thanks to decades of research, things are constantly getting better for cancer patients, whether it’s the care and treatment they receive, or their chances of survival. There’s still a long way to go before cancer is a thing of the past, but luckily there’s already been a lot of progress made and it’s only a matter of when, not if, a cure is found.
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