Cure for cancer

[Gordo]

https://m.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/A-cure-for-cancer-Israeli-scientists-say-they-think-they-found-one-578939

A CURE FOR CANCER? ISRAELI SCIENTISTS SAY THEY THINK THEY FOUND ONE

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN

Cancer cells [illustrative] (photo credit: PIXABAY)

“We believe we will offer in a year's time a complete cure for cancer."

A small team of Israeli scientists think they might have found the first complete cure for cancer.

 

[TomBAvoider]

Note the question mark in the headline - it means the answer is always negative; it's called Betteridge's Law.

Without reading the article, what do folks think the odds are the "Israeli scientists" are right? I would bet 0% chance they're right 🙂

[Gordo]

I give them low odds for the "in a year's time" deadline mentioned, but I like to think they are on the right track and doing things a little differently from everyone else that is focused on cancer treatments.  Cancer is probably going to be the most likely thing to kill people that don't eat an atherogenic diet (i.e. those of us that are less likely to die from heart disease or stroke).

 

[TomBAvoider]

I remember MR mentioning in a post on the email list many years ago, that if you elimiated all cancer and all heart disease as death causes, you'd only gain about 3 years on average of lifespan for the population. It sounded low, but I never did the math. I do believe though that most centenarians and supercentenarians don't die of cancer or heart disease/stroke. In other words, eliminating cancer 100% would be a blessing for humanity of course, and I fervently hope such a day will arrive (not in my lifetime, I'm afraid), but I suspect that it would not lengthen an average CRONIes lifespan any. I for one don't expect to die of cancer - though of course, anything can happen... f.ex. for men, supposedly ALL men will get prostate cancer if they live long enough (again, I don't believe the centenarian and supercentenarian data bear this out).

[Genny]

This assumes that there is only one disease called cancer.  Cancer is many diseases and requires many cures--though, fortunately, fewer methods of prevention/risk mitigation. 😛

I think it's delusional to assert a CRONie can't get cancer.  There have been a number with prostate cancer, for instance.  There are lots of cancers you are incredibly unlikely to get but others that just aren't that affected.  Overall risk, I wouldn't be surprised that you can cut by 80% with leanness, exercise, and diet.  That last 20%, though, isn't so easy.

Most people who are really healthy into their 90s will probably die from an infection.  When cardiovasular/pulmonary/etc, cancer, dementia, and metabolic diseases are low, that's pretty much what you have left, and while you can have a really GOOD immune system for someone in your 90s, you can't have a system so good that it's like a healthy person half your age.  It would be great, but it's just not there.

[Taurus Londono]

nt

[Todd Allen]

On 2/2/2019 at 3:45 PM, Genny said:

Most people who are really healthy into their 90s will probably die from an infection.

Perhaps infection is a significant cause of death for those who die while otherwise healthy though accidental death shouldn't be overlooked.

But from what I've seen the morbidity curve becomes extremely steep with advancing age and one can be very healthy into their 90s and then rapidly become unhealthy and die from the usual causes, heart disease, cancer, neurodegeneration, etc. in similar percentages to the causes of death of those who became unhealthy at younger ages.

There have been observations that the causes of death cluster as various aspects of declining health and fixing any one of them will have a modest impact on longevity.  A major fix for cancer may buy us very few years on average.