• Question: Why have scientists found it so difficult to find a cure for cancer?

    Asked by 329bera39 to Shikha, Colin, John, Kevin, Triona on 7 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by Roy Heyneman.
    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      Hi 329bera39,
      Good question, so the answer to your question is ,
      Cancer is a disease when your cells continue multiplying even when the body doesn’t need them; the result is a mass or growth, also called a tumor. If they invade nearby tissue and organs, spreading the disease we call them malignant or cancer cells. There are more than 200 types of cancer like breast, lung, bowel, prostate, blood cancers, etc.
      We don’t catch cancer from one another, but every patient is the originator of their own disease. There are various causes including radiation, chemicals, viruses; even dietary habits. So, it is hard to develop a single cure for cancer as you can see there is no single reason behind the disease. But as we all know it can be cured to some extent if we can detect it in early stages.
      This is what I am trying to do in my research project- developing a blood test device for cancer detection that will help us to catch it early, when treatment is more likely to be successful.
      Hope, I have managed to answer your question :)…
      Shikha

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