In the short term, the real deal maker or breaker is the play of odds on whether we can treat our way out of the rising cancer caseload. But the big question needs an answer too — Can a full-throttle defense mechanism be devised that could achieve what looks unachievable today - a cancer-free world? New Delhi: “ Cancer is an expansionist disease; it invades through tissues, sets up colonies in hostile landscapes, seeking “sanctuary” in one organ and then immigrating to another. It lives desperately, inventively, fiercely, territorially, cannily, and defensively — at times, as if teaching us how to survive.
To confront cancer is to encounter a parallel species, one perhaps more adapted to survival than even we are.” – Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of ‘The Emperor of All Maladies’. Dr Mukherjee, who is an assistant professor of Medicine at the Columbia University, has aptly described our ‘war’ against the disease called cancer in this quote.
In his findings, Dr Mukherjee has shown the role that cells play in cancer therapy, including immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. But is supportive therapy the only way forward for cancer treatment in India as well as the world? While humanity awaits a ‘universal’ cure for cancer, there have been significant advancements in cancer treatment leading to improved outcomes. In the short term, the real deal maker or breaker is the play of odds on whether we can treat our way out o.
