Is cancer finally on the ropes? Hope for vaccines increases
When it comes to defeating cancer, the numbers are improving, but we have a way to go:
- In 1990, 33.3 people out of every 100,000 in the U.S. population died from breast cancer. By 2015, it was down to 20.3. And as much of an improvement as that is — more than 30 percent — in 2018 about 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women. About 63,960 new cases of very early stage, noninvasive carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be diagnosed.
- In 1990, 33.8 people out of every 100,000 in the U.S. population died from prostate cancer. In 2015 it was 19.8. Again, great strides — better than 30 percent — were made in managing the disease. But in 2018, there will be about 164,690 new cases diagnosed.
Those statistics make us feel two things at once: First, survivorship is growing. Breast and prostate cancer are considered chronic conditions these days. But second: How is it possible that we can explore Mars and we can’t figure out how to stop cancer from starting or how to genuinely cure it?
Great Strides, Good News
Well, in research centers across the country, the Immune System Rover, much like the Mars Rover, has been launched. It’s at work diligently surveying the human immune system, studying prototypes in lab animals and testing out individual biological systems and pathways to find out why cancer cells are able to proliferate. That research has revealed just how a person’s own immune-system warriors can be awakened to defeat cancer.