Stop Curing Cancer!!!

Well, Wired Magazine just arrived yesterday and I am eager to dig in tomorrow. Their cover article is entitled "The Truth About Cancer: Don't Try To Cure It, Just Find It. – Inside the Science of Early Detection"

And, to say the least, it speaks volumes about our perceptions of my favorite word "cure" and how the public perception of this disease, along with that of the masses of general cancer fundraisers – is going to have to radically change over the next few years if we are every going to make any actual progress in whatever "cure" means.

Now, of course, this article focuses on the growing emphasis of what they call "early detection". Now let's put that in context for a moment. "Early detection" means that you've already got cancer in your body and we have to be able to know it's there before it starts wreaking havoc, making you all crazy up symptomatic and increasing your chances for an ever-increasingly toxic dosage of radiation and chemo with the added bonus of surgery but only if you're lucky.

And – for the record – people tend to confuse two of the terms that are largely thrown around by both the big box cancer groups and the government. Those two words are "early detection" and "prevention." each of which come with their own dogmatic philosophy.

Personally, I do not believe there is any way to "prevent" cancer seeing as how we've screwed up this planet enough environmentally to foster this epidemic. Second, there has yet to be a single method proved that guarantees you will never get cancer if you do something to "prevent" it from ever happening. Whether that's veganism, becoming a monk, growing your own gluten or standing on your head. For Christ Sake, quitting smoking – or never starting in the first place – doesn't prevent cancer. Something like 20% of all lung cancer patients are nonsmokers and second hand smoke from other festering losers who currently do smoke has been proven to be a factor in secondary cancers.

Of course "prevention" is easy to shove down the throats of consumers. It's simple. It's one word. It connotes that we can be lazy and just "prevent cancer", when, in fact, what they are talking about is nothing more that "risk reduction". Yes, "reduce your risk of getting cancer". But ooooooh ooooooh – That sounds skeery! "Reducing you risk" sounds like you're probably going to get it anyway so be aware and try your best to do certain things to make sure when it comes, you're ready.

Just like the grip of fear the outgoing administration has kept us in over terrorism. "Prevention" is nice. "Reduce your risk" is an orange alert that there is an imminent risk of cancer cells attacking so just "be on high guard", buy gallons of water, flee to your bomb shelter and whatever you do, don't forget your aluminum foil hats!

One more thing about "prevention" – Cancer is a naturally occurring biological process as old as evolution itself. The marketing of 'cure' has contaminated the public perception of the disease to the point where people think there will be a new magic fairy dust pill invented one day that eradicates the disease like polio – one size fits all. Bogus. It's not about eradicating it - you can't. It lives inside all of is all the time. It's about containing and managing it.

OK so we're done with the "prevention" speech. So now that we're talking spooky scary about "risk reduction" we circle right back to where we started – early detection. So if that means better earlier detection to treat cancer when it's least lethal (and then you just pray it never comes back), I'll take that as the 'cure' any day of the week.

Of course don't get me started on how there are virtually no methods of early detection for young adult cancers and once again our boomer and senior cousins get to have all the fun surviving...

But that's a rant for another time.