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A DNA database means patients suffering from cancer will have their tumour’s genes decoded and matched with the right drugs to keep the disease at bay. This will help to transform what has been perceived as a death sentence into a manageable disease.
“We should be aspiring to cure cancer, but for people with advanced disease, it will be a question of managing them better so they survive for much longer, turning cancer into a chronic disease,” Prof. Ashworth said.
Prof. Gordon McVie, senior consultant at the European Institute of Oncology, predicted that the number of cancer cases will be falling as a result of more profound research of cancer-triggering life styles, such as smoking or overeating.
Another major factor in the fight against cancer is the state of the world’s finances. Prof. McVie stressed the coffers of pharmaceutical companies have been drained by the global downturn, which caused “a bottleneck in production of new treatments.”
On the other hand, defeating cancer has always been about multiple small games, from screening to awareness – not finding one big blockbuster drug, says Prof. Sir Mike Richards from the UK’s National Clinical Director for Cancer.
Voice of Russia, The Telegraph
Grigory Milenin
It seems that in the contemporary world man has penetrated all mysteries of nature and created remedies for practically all diseases. However, one mortal disease, cancer, still remains superior to science. The 4th of February marks World Cancer Day.
Mankind has made a gigantic leap in healthcare over the last decades. The discovery of antibiotics permitted to cure once mortal diseases. Vaccination has helped to exterminate smallpox and nearly exterminate polio. However, after getting over one danger people are inevitably exposed to another, Senior Vice President, Basic Science, of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Andrei Gudkov says.
“The rise of cancer in the world is a side effect of achievements made in other fields of the medical science. It is not true that cancer has become more frequent. The paradox is that after beating infectious diseases and making a breakthrough in curing cardiovascular problems we started living longer and reaching an age when humans become more susceptible to cancer.”
Announcer: At the same time, the expert is convinced that in the future modern science will find a remedy for cancer without fail. Andrei Gudkov believes that medical science will mostly deal preventive blows on cancer.
“Major success will be achieved in the prevention of cancer. Treatment with a certain kind of medications will result in the frequency of cancer going down. There is every reason to believe this.”
Modern medical science does not only look ahead but also solves day-to-day tasks in fighting cancer. Dr. Vladimir Levshin, department chief at the Blokhin Cancer Research Centre, says that at present cancer specialists have several methods of treatment at their disposal, from surgery to radiation. These methods improve every year, the expert says.
“Three kinds of treatment are employed: surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. They are continuously upgraded, emphasis is laid on medication treatment right now. Medication is becoming more and more effective. Medicines of the previous generation affected healthy tissues and cells very drastically. Modern drugs have a pin-point effect and attack tumorous cells at the molecular and genetic levels.”
Still, cancer is far from being finally defeated. Experts recommend preventive measures, such as avoiding stress, giving up bad habits and practising a healthy life-style.
