Thanks for update. I've been tracking progress heavily since a) my brother died of lung cancer in '83 b) my wife died of thyroid cancer in '12. This is my "scorecard".
1) Generally speaking, there has been great progress in treating blood cancers, using CAR-T. Solid tumors are a more difficult target.
2) Thyroid, Prostate, Breast "Cancers" were commonly pronounced yet had a "high survival rate". This is turning out to mean that many false positives were indicated. Now they're better at diagnosing the real thing (which actually has a rather low survival rate, depending).
3) Much progress in treating lung cancer due to CAR-T. Generally though, a lung cancer prognosis is not good. Odd that radiation/chemo which had bad rap even in 80s, are still with us. In some ways they are still very effective (when the patient is hoping for a few extra months, what do they care about the long term effects?)
4) Since viruses may be cause of some cancers (ie HPV, Epstein Barr), mRNA vaccines show great promise in reducing cancer. Odd that anti-vaxxers are trashing vaccines in an era where they've been tremendously successful, and may soon be even more so.
5) Great that "early detection" is employed in colorectal cancer. Full body scans? Definitely a danger in false positives/overtreatment there (how many breasts/prostates have been hacked up needlessly?)
6) KRAS mutation underlies deadliest cancers, esp. pancreatic, some lung & colorectal. I believe it was implicated in my wife's cancer. This one is difficult to treat...gene editing via CRISPR-CAS maybe?
7) Some progress in controlling metastasis (abetted by neutrophils/fibrins)...I believe solving this is the ultimate "cure" (essentially makes every tumor benign).
8) At end of life, cancer cachexia (wasting due to loss of appetite) is usually the killer. I wish there was some breakthrough there.
9) Telling that 100 yrs ago there was little lung cancer. Now, 2/3 cases due to advent of smoking, 1/3 due to poorer air quality (my brother's was non-smokers). Yes better environmental quality may reduce cancers by about 20%?
