Anonymous wrote:Outside of surgical removal, cancer will never be cured. At best we're looking at long-term disease maintenance (like diabetes). But shhhhh don't tell anyone!!
Not true. In fact, my phd thesis dealt with exploring the mechanical reactions of healthy cells to the stresses in their physical environment. It turns out all healthy mammalian cells (except for blood cells) have stringent requirements on their physical environment (can't get too crowded, require a 'scaffolding' to adhere to). These requirements are not present in mutated cancer cells, which enables them to grow out of control, producing tumors, and metastasize. Once we understand the biochemical pathways that control these requirements, we likely will be able to help cancer cells kill themselves. Far off, of course.
Confidential to OP, I am smart, but there's still tons I don't know. Def lacking in historical knowledge, for example.