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Biological samples stored in vials are chilled on ice prior to analysis, which examines their response to chemotherapy drugs at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images/Cancer Research UKThe term 'curing cancer' is often used metaphorically to describe achieving the impossible. When beauty pageant contestants express their desire for world peace and a cancer cure, it doesn't instill much confidence in the feasibility of such goals. Is eradicating cancer as unattainable as a world completely free of conflicts? It appears that finding a cure for cancer might be more achievable than convincing billions of people to coexist peacefully.
Unfortunately, the outlook isn't optimistic. It seems increasingly plausible that discovering a cure for cancer is as challenging as fostering harmony among conflicting ethnic or religious groups. The obstacles aren't solely due to insufficient funding or a lack of innovative ideas. Rather, cancer may be so deeply rooted in the biology of living organisms that eliminating it entirely could be beyond our reach.
To understand cancer better, let’s start with its basic mechanism. Cancer cells contain DNA mutations that disrupt normal cellular regulation. This allows them to multiply rapidly and uncontrollably, lacking the built-in safeguards that healthy cells possess. Typically, a cell with issues like a virus or mutation will self-destruct through a process called apoptosis to prevent further damage. Cancer cells, however, defy this process and continue to grow unchecked.
Researchers have uncovered a significant challenge in studying cancer’s origins: its ancient existence. By examining hydra, small coral-like organisms that are hundreds of millions of years old, scientists found that these creatures, like humans and other vertebrates, can develop tumors [source: Bosch et al.].
This discovery carries profound implications: cancer is deeply embedded in the evolutionary history of cells. Eliminating it entirely may be impossible because it would require altering cell biology at its most fundamental level. While this doesn’t rule out the possibility of effectively treating cancer to the point of eradication in humans, it suggests that a true 'cure' might necessitate reimagining how cells function altogether.
