Why are some cancers not curable?

Cancer cells within a single tumour are not identical That means that treatments can often kill one type of cell in a tumour, while others survive the treatment, allowing the tumour to grow again.

worldwidecancerresearch.org - Why Haven't We Cured Cancer Yet? Our Experts Have The Answers

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It's important to remember that we have come a long way - overall, cancer survival in the UK has doubled in the last 40 years. In the 1970s only 25% of people with cancer would survive 10 years or more after their diagnosis. Today that figure is 50%. But cancer is a complex disease - and the fact is that we won't ever find one single cure. Here's why:

Cancer is not just one disease

To understand why we haven’t cured cancer yet, the most important thing to know is that cancer is not one disease. Instead, it’s an umbrella term for more than 200 distinct diseases – that’s why we fund research into any type of cancer. Each broad cancer type has many sub-types, and they all look and behave differently because they are different on a genetic and molecular level. This is because cancer arises from our own cells, so each cancer can be as different and diverse as people are.

Myriads of mutations exist

Underlying the more than 200 different cancers are a myriad of different genetic mutations. Every cancer is caused by a different set of mutations and as the tumour grows, more and more mutations accumulate. This means that every tumour has an individual set of mutations, so a drug that works for one cancer patient, might have absolutely no effect on another. That’s why we fund researchers like Dr Diego Pasini in Italy, whose research project aims to understand why a particular mutation makes some cancers more likely to develop.

Cancer cells within a single tumour are not identical

Not every cancer cell in a tumour will have the same genetic mutations as a neighbouring cancer cell. That means that treatments can often kill one type of cell in a tumour, while others survive the treatment, allowing the tumour to grow again.

Treatments can eventually stop working

The genetic mutations that cancer cells acquire over time mean that the cells change the way they behave. This can be an incredibly difficult problem during treatment because the mutations can lead to cancer cells developing resistance to a treatment over time, making it ineffective. If that happens, the patient will then have to be put on to a different treatment – but again, the cancer could develop resistance to the new drug. This is why we fund researchers like Maite Huarte, who is trying to figure out how to overcome this resistance.

Cancer cells are really good at staying alive

Normal cells have certain mechanisms in place that stop them from growing or dividing too much. Cancer cells have lost these control mechanisms and can develop an arsenal of tricks to avoid being killed. That’s why we fund researchers like Vincenzo Giambra, who aims to understand how cancer cells become such survival experts. Cancer research like the projects funded by Worldwide Cancer Research offers hope that one day we will overcome all of these problems and end cancer - and we have already made incredible progress.

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What part of the body does cancer usually affect?

Cancer can spread to almost anywhere in the body. But it commonly moves into your bones, liver, or lungs.

newsinhealth.nih.gov - How Cancer Cells Spread in the Body | NIH News in Health

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How Cancer Cells Spread in the Body

Video of Metastasis: How Cancer Spreads

Cancer can sometimes be found in several parts of the body. Most of the time, these are not separate types of cancer. Rather, cancer has developed in one organ and spread to other areas. When cancer spreads, it’s called metastasis. In metastasis, cancer cells break away from where they first formed, travel through the blood or lymph system, and form new tumors in other parts of the body. Cancer can spread to almost anywhere in the body. But it commonly moves into your bones, liver, or lungs. When these new tumors form, they are made of the same kind of cancer cells as the original tumor. For example, lung cancer cells that are found in the brain don’t look like brain cells. This disease would be called metastatic lung cancer, not brain cancer. Cancer cells can be sent to the lab for tests to identify the origin of the cells. Knowing the type of cancer and whether it has spread helps the health care team suggest a treatment plan. The goal of treatment is to stop or slow the growth of cancer or to relieve symptoms. A new animated video, Metastasis: How Cancer Spreads, shows how cancer cells can break off from the primary tumor in one organ, travel through a blood vessel, and invade another organ to form a new tumor. Watch the video and learn more about how cancer spreads at www.cancer.gov/types/metastatic-cancer.

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