2015-09-26

Understanding Cancer - The Cancer Series part 3


In the latest part of the Cancer series we learned which traits that makes a cell a cancer cell. Today I thought we'd discuss the question: Is there a cure for cancer?

The quick answer is unfortunately "No", but lets try to understand why there is no real cure for cancer yet.

Cancer has been around for ages and about 1/3 of the population will develop a cancer at some point in their life, so it's something that affects lots of us and the motivation for a cure is strong. Considering how much progress we make in medical science and how much research that is done on cancer you'd think there'd be a cure. Many treatments and drugs exist against cancer, but not all patients respond in the same way to these treatments. One patient can take a drug and get better while another patient with the same type of cancer will not get any better.

The thing is, there is no one cure for cancer. It is impossible to find THE cure for cancer because all cancers are so very different. Cancer is complicated, not only can it originate in almost any type of tissue in the body (e.g. skin, breast, lung and so on), but each tumour that forms develops in its own way and differently from another tumour. Breaking it down further: Two patients that both have breast cancer can have tumours that have developed in totally different ways. So the tumours may look alike on the outside, but they will most probably act and react very differently to drugs.

So the easy answer is that we haven't found a cure for cancer because it is not one single disease.
It's a question wrongly asked; There is no one cancer to cure, but lots of cancers that we need to cure. And because each individual patient has its unique cancer, you need as many cures for cancers as you have cancer patients. However this is something that we are getting closer to achieving, and I will come back to this later on in the Cancer Series because it is very exciting and interesting, but we need to understand a bit more genetics to really understand it, so this will be the topic of the next part of the Cancer Series.

As always, if there are any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section.
On to the outfit...


Turtleneck: H&M (old)
Pinafore: Mod Dolly (here)
Tights: Primark (old)

This lovely pinafore from Mod Dolly is a fantastic autumn dress. It has endless outfit opportunities, and I believe that you will see much more of it on the blog during this season. In fact, you might even recognise it because I'm not the person to exclude tartan from my spring and summer wardrobe. I've worn this pinafore in the middle of the summer with a short sleeved blouse, see it here. However, there is something especially "right" about tartan in the autumn!



Much love!

10 comments:

  1. How I missed these posts I have no idea but I've just gone back and read them. Your work is amazing Mona. I knew about your job before but I didn't know that you specialise in colon cancer. My dad sadly died from colon cancer when I was a little girl and about 8 years ago my grandma had it too but she survived and is still with us. My uncle has also had pre cancerous tumours removed in the last few years. Being so prominent in my family it is a little worrying but I'm so thankful for the advances in my life time alone. Even though every cancer can react differently I'm sure what you do is having a positive impact.
    I hope you feel proud of the meaningful work you are doing - I am proud of you and thankful too.

    Also this outfit is so cute!

    Emma Xx

    www.emmaslookingglass.com

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    1. Your comment made me well up! It means the world to me to see you write that. I am so so sorry for your loss, it makes me sad that you lost your father. But how nice that your grandmother made it. It sounds to me like your family might have a genetic change that predispose you to colon cancer. I don't know how it works in the UK but for sure go to the check-ups that they offer you. You're still young but try and keep healthy. Alcohol, smoking and a lot of fatty foods and red meat has been connected to colon cancer. On the other hand a high fibre diet is protective. There is no need for you to worry more than others. Cancer is very prevalent for all of us, so worrying about it won't help. Instead getting educated about symptoms and early signs is a good idea. I'll help out in that and say this: As long as your bowel is normal (normal for you, we all have differences in our stools and bowel movements) and you have no inexplainable pain, you're most likely good ;)
      My work is indeed specialised to colon cancer, and it is even specialised to the genetics of colon cancer, I will come to my own research further on in the cancer series. Thank you so much for your super kind words, it makes me so happy and yes, proud. Thank you and soooo much love to you!

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  2. Oh, how I love a tartan dress in autumn! You look lovely in it, of course :-)

    Thank you so much for this newest installment! I honestly had no idea that there's not a one-size-fits-all cure for cancer. I thought it was all pretty much the same and that the type of treatment just depended on what stage the cancer was in. It's kind of scary to think that there are so many unique versions of the disease, so I am very much looking forward to your next post!!!

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    1. Oh thank you so much sweetie! <3

      It's not at all unusual to think there is one cure for cancer. And that's probably because we talk of cancer as if it were one thing, when it isn't. Only in my own area of colorectal cancer there are so many different kinds and subgroups.
      Yes it is scary, but as I quickly mentioned in the post, we are in research reaching the place where we will give more individualised treatments to people. Thank you for your lovely comment, very kind of you!
      Much love

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  3. I completely agree with Devinne's comment - I had no idea there was not a one-size-fits-all cure for cancer. As I'm reading your posts, I'm actually surprised at how little I know about cancer...despite having lost several family members to it. Thank you for doing these posts - this is something I really want to be more educated on and you explain it so well!

    Also, your dress is adorable! I can't help but think of fall when I see it. :)

    Hope you're having a great weekend, Mona!

    -Lindsey
    have-clothes-will-travel.com

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    1. Well I think the problem is that we talk about cancer as if it were one thing. And that stems from the time cancer got its name. I am happy that you like these posts, and thank you so much for your lovely compliment. Explaining it in a good way is hard, but super important if we want to pass on knowledge. I'm sorry you've lost family members to cancer. I hope they rest in peace.

      Thank you! It's really comfy too!
      Thank you, you too.

      Much love

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  4. I really enjoy your posts more and more. I love that you are writing about such important things and share your work with us. I'm excited reading more about cancer soon. I love to learn more about it in this way, because biology never was my favourite subject :/
    Much love, Christine

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    1. Oh thank you so much Christine! You are very sweet and it means a lot to me to see you write that. I'm posting one post a week about cancer, so that the blog doesn't get too serious either.
      I'm glad you like to learn in this way! It makes me very proud.
      Much love

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  5. A perfect fall outfit indeed! The color is wonderful on you. And thank you for this post! I was aware that cancer was difficult to treat but did not know that there is no actual cure for cancer as each individual's response to the cancer and treatment are complicatedly different.

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    1. Thank you so very much! <3
      Oh I'm so happy you liked this post! And yes, cancer is so complicated, but luckily we're getting to a point where we understand quite a lot about it.
      Much love

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