More than 50 years after cancer research began, there is still a long way to go until scientists can combat this danger, according to a report published in the journal Science. Nature Scientific.
In 1971, under President Richard Nixon, the United States launched what it called a “war on cancer” through a law to fight the second leading cause of death in the United States.
In December 1971, a law was passed in the United States allowing $1.5 billion to be pumped into cancer research over three years, the equivalent of more than $10 billion today.
The law strengthened the infrastructure for cancer research and created a national network of “clinical trials”, and at the time Nixon faced many criticisms, with researchers warning that cancer was a “complex disease” and that no single, definitive treatment could be found.
Although the majority of research has been backed by the United States, many treatments are still too expensive for individuals and healthcare systems, with about 42 percent of people with cancer experiencing financial hardship either at the stage of diagnosis or treatment.
Since the 1970s, researchers already knew that the “genes” of cancer cells were chaotic and unstable, which made geneticist Peter Noel say in 1976 that “the genetic variation of cancer will make the task of finding treatments more difficult and complex.”
Today, scientists have come to the conclusion that “cancer is not a single disease, but rather many different diseases, and their complexities are mind-boggling, and this is one of the reasons why cancer is difficult to treat.”
During the past fifty decades, scientists were able to make remarkable progress in understanding the complexities of cancer diseases, and analyzes were developed that reveal the “genome” of cancer, and it helped in the development of anti-cancer drugs that target the proteins of some types.
And last year, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a drug aimed at treating some lung cancers.
As a result of cancer research, scientists realized that “early detection” of cancer is part of the treatment, which prompted some countries to establish early detection programs for breast and colon cancer.
Scientists currently rarely talk about a large-scale treatment for cancer, and we see that they have set targets to search for ways to reduce the side effects of harsh cancer treatments.
and according Location According to the World Health Organization, cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, claiming 10 million lives in 2020.
About a third of cancer deaths are attributed to tobacco use, alcohol abuse, low intake of fruits and vegetables, and lack of physical activity. It is common for late-stage cancer symptoms and lack of access to diagnostic and treatment services, especially in low- and middle-income countries.