Edmonton researchers find a cure for cancer

[kermitology]

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/22...e-takes-notice

Researchers at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada have cured cancer last week, yet there is a little ripple in the news or in TV. It is a simple technique using very basic drug. The method employs dichloroacetate, which is currently used to treat metabolic disorders. So, there is no concern of side effects or about their long term effects.

This drug doesn't require a patent, so anyone can employ it widely and cheaply compared to the costly cancer drugs produced by major pharmaceutical companies.

[kermitology]

Scratch that:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...and_cancer.php

[CaptainCrunch]

Dosen't this still have a ways to go until its for sure, I was talking to my sister about this over the Christmas break and while she said that the results were promising the trials have been pretty limited so far.

[Jbo]

I really hope that we are getting closer to a world that is Cancer free. One of the most scary, soul-draining things a person/family can be put through.

All of our lives we hear about cancer, just about everything causes it, and it seems to attack at random.

I pray one day it can be treated quickly and efficiently.

[dissentowner]

Not the first time nor the last. I hate cancer as much as anybody but they will never release a cure for it. The medical industry makes billions in cancer treatment not to mention the population rate would be even more out of control. As much as it is nice to believe in the goodness of mankind the real truth is that they will never release a cure for cancer to the public, there is too much money to be made in the treatment.

[Ashartus]

I don't know about the "no one noticed" bit - that story was all over the news when it was released. But the spin in that article is ludicrous and it was clearly written by someone with no scientific/medical knowledge, let alone understanding of cancer.

DCA shows a small amount of promise for treatment of a couple of specific types of cancer - it certainly isn't a "cure all cancer" drug (and I highly doubt anything ever will be - cancer is not one disease). There is also ongoing study of it.

The medical industry would not/could not suppress a cure if such a thing existed - even if you buy the argument that the industry makes too much money from treatment, the individual researchers are a different story, and anyone who could come up with a real cure for all types of cancer would be fabulously wealthy, famous, and almost certainly win the Nobel. A lot of cancer research is also not done by private industry, but by universities and government-funded researchers.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Not the first time nor the last. I hate cancer as much as anybody but they will never release a cure for it. The medical industry makes billions in cancer treatment not to mention the population rate would be even more out of control. As much as it is nice to believe in the goodness of mankind the real truth is that they will never release a cure for cancer to the public, there is too much money to be made in the treatment.

So utterly untrue it hurts.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

I don't know about the "no one noticed" bit - that story was all over the news when it was released. But the spin in that article is ludicrous and it was clearly written by someone with no scientific/medical knowledge, let alone understanding of cancer.

DCA shows a small amount of promise for treatment of a couple of specific types of cancer - it certainly isn't a "cure all cancer" drug (and I highly doubt anything ever will be - cancer is not one disease). There is also ongoing study of it.

The medical industry would not/could not suppress a cure if such a thing existed - even if you buy the argument that the industry makes too much money from treatment, the individual researchers are a different story, and anyone who could come up with a real cure for all types of cancer would be fabulously wealthy, famous, and almost certainly win the Nobel. A lot of cancer research is also not done by private industry, but by universities and government-funded researchers.

Yet how many times have we heard something like this come over the news? They had the same thing come out of the UWO once too and it disappeared. We heard they had a vaccine for HIV as well but you can't get it. If you catch HIV they can treat it so you can live an almost full lifespan providing you take the medication for your lifetime. Big bucks there. Coming up with a cure is one thing, getting it released to the public is a whole new ball game.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Thor

So utterly untrue it hurts.

Really? How do you know? How many millions have been spent on cancer research with zero results? As much as I cannot prove my opinion neither can you.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Really? How do you know? How many millions have been spent on cancer research with zero results? As much as I cannot prove my opinion neither can you.

Zero results?

That's a pretty strong claim.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Yet how many times have we heard something like this come over the news? They had the same thing come out of the UWO once too and it disappeared. We heard they had a vaccine for HIV as well but you can't get it. If you catch HIV they can treat it so you can live an almost full lifespan providing you take the medication for your lifetime. Big bucks there. Coming up with a cure is one thing, getting it released to the public is a whole new ball game.

C'mon man. This thread is the perfect example of non-medically or scientifically trained hack journalists transforming the modest claims of academic researchers. So-called miracle treatments disappear, not because big pharma wants it hidden, but because the media sensationalized an early finding.

One day, I discovered perhaps the most potent anti-cancer drug - concentrated sulphuric acid. That sumbitch killed cancer like crazy. . . I wonder why it never caught on? Must've been big pharma.

[Burninator]

Is a "cure for cancer" even possible? I didn't think "cancer" was one thing. Wouldn't it have to be cures?

[Thor]

Is it really worth debating you? I find conspiracy theorists like talking to a brick wall.

I only say this because if you followed the ongoing science thread there has been 3 major stories this year on breakthroughs which will lead to a vaccine like treatment for some cancers and hope for much more than that down the road.

In fact this years top medical stories on major science websites probably have a host of cancer stories.

I spend most of my free time reading science journals, websites and follow this stuff for fun, so when you suggest they are hiding the truth from us I find it utterly without basis.

If all medical research was funded by private pharmaceuticals you could possible have a leg to stand on, but a vast amount of medical research is done at universities around the world and many state funded medical institutions which are typically the ones we see releasing the latest and best ways to fight cancer.

Zero results is an intriguing comment, for most cancer's now you can not only survive them but come out and live a long life, the death rates for cancers of all kinds is way down and its only improving.

Cancer is a very difficult egg to crack, its not simply one disease and like HIV its a tough SOB to fight, but we'll have both those eggs cracked in our lifetimes.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

dissentowner, so you honestly believe that everyone in the world who has anything to do with cancer research would supress a silver bullet for cancer? You really are crazy.

Sure company A might make a bunch of money off of treating cancer, but what about company B? Don't you think they could make a fortune curing it right away?

I imagine the conversation would go something like this:

Cancer Patient: "Bummer I have cancer, what are my options"
Company A: "Well we can treat you for a couple years and it'll be horrible, and it'll cost $100k"
Company B: "Well we can cure you tomorrow, you won't have to go through all that horrible treatment, and you'll only have to take 1 week of work...and it costs XXX ammount"

It pretty much doesn't matter what ammount you change XXX to, I'm certain the patient would listen to company B ~100% of the time.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Yet how many times have we heard something like this come over the news? They had the same thing come out of the UWO once too and it disappeared. We heard they had a vaccine for HIV as well but you can't get it. If you catch HIV they can treat it so you can live an almost full lifespan providing you take the medication for your lifetime. Big bucks there. Coming up with a cure is one thing, getting it released to the public is a whole new ball game.

We have heard it many times inn the news because they often sensationalize minor breakthroughs. The HIV vaccine is still in clinical trials from what i understand. If I owned the patent for an HIV vaccine, why would I not sell it? If I owned the patent for HIV meds and didn't want a vaccine to come out, why would I research it. The whole conspiracy thing is annoying and illogical.

I can promise you if a researcher discovers the"cure for cancer" he would not just quit after the results are found because someone offered him money. You can bet he would want to be known as the man who cured cancer.

As for not investing in researching a drug that cannot be patented, why would we hold drug companies accountable? What is in it for them?

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Thor

Is it really worth debating you? I find conspiracy theorists like talking to a brick wall.

I only say this because if you followed the ongoing science thread there has been 3 major stories this year on breakthroughs which will lead to a vaccine like treatment for some cancers and hope for much more than that down the road.

In face this years top medical stories on major science websites probably have a host of cancer stories.

I spend most of my free time reading science journals, websites and follow this stuff for fun, so when you suggest they are hiding the truth from us I find it utterly without basis.

If all medical research was funded by private pharmaceuticals you could possible have a leg to stand on, but a vast amount of medical research is done at universities around the world and many state funded medical institutions which are typically the ones we see releasing the latest and best ways to fight cancer.

Zero results is an intriguing comment, for most cancer's now you can not only survive them but come out and live a long life, the death rates for cancers of all kinds is way down and its only improving.

Cancer is a very difficult egg to crack, its not simply one disease and like HIV its a tough SOB to fight, but we'll have both those eggs cracked in our lifetimes.

I hope your right, I just don't see it. 7.6 Million people die every year of cancer, that is still a lot of people. It isn't that I don't want them to cure it, I hate it and it has taken much from me. I just have zero faith in what us as a general public will have access to.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

dissentowner, so you honestly believe that everyone in the world who has anything to do with cancer research would supress a silver bullet for cancer? You really are crazy.

So I am simply bringing in an alternative view and that makes me crazy? Thanks for making it personal bro. Just because somebody has concerns or opinions that may differ from yours it does not make them crazy.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Is a "cure for cancer" even possible? I didn't think "cancer" was one thing. Wouldn't it have to be cures?

There will likely never be a magic bullet cure for all cancers. Different diseases have been shown to undergo different mechanisms (one of those zero results for millions spent).

Modern medicine is getting quite good however, at determining mechanisms on both macro (ie. organ) and micro scales (ie. cellular). We are continually discovering new biomarkers and other indicators for cancer onset. Existing diagnosis techniques are continually gaining better resolutions for earlier detection. Treatments are becoming more refined and successful etc. In the years to come, my predictions are for site-specific treatments on a molecular scale.

[Thor]

Some cancer survival rates:

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

So I am simply bringing in an alternative view and that makes me crazy? Thanks for making it personal bro. Just because somebody has concerns or opinions that may differ from yours it does not make them crazy.

No, seeing far reaching impossible conspiracies makes someone crazy.
This is just a good example of that.

Ignoring all reason, and jumping to wild conclusions is a sligthly different thing than "bringing in an alternative view".

You know what else was making people buckets of money? Treating Polio, and treating smallpox. Guess those vaccines slipped past before big pharma could sweep them under the rug eh?