

Cancer cure "may be available in two years" - Shooter
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/19/ncancer219.xml

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karzeem
"If this is half as effective in humans as it is in mice it could be that half
of patients could be cured or at least given one to two years extra of high
quality life." Um, Dr. Cui, there's a big difference between those two
outcomes.

Research like this is wonderful, obviously, but it speaks to the general
crappiness of science journalism that articles like this are the norm. It just
strikes me as reckless when stories appear about how researchers are on the
verge of curing cancer. Is it just me, or have they been two years away for
about 40 years?

So few drugs make it to market, and the ones that do take so long, that it's
high time for underpromising to become the norm. If by 2009 Dr. Cui
accomplishes half of what this article says he will, I will very happily eat
my shoe.

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peterevogel
There has always been a disconnect of this sort between pop science journalism
and actual scientific papers. Medical and biotech researchers, in particular,
have to be ultra-cautious in their pronouncements. There are a hundred
thousand variables that could render this discovery useless for humans. But
that sort of caution doesn't sell newspapers. The real tragedy is the
inevitable disappointment and backlash it causes among the public when the
promising discovery is perceived to "fail."

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whamied
This is exciting news. Someone very close to me has had cancer for a long
time. She has been surviving remarkably well. I always told her if she could
just hold off long enough, a cure would be developed.

Let's hope this is the real deal.

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mrdorian
modern medicine technology could sooner or later cure all gene-related
dieases, i am pretty sure of it,all we need is TIME

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rms
It's going to be much, much easier to cure gene-related diseases in our
children. Eventually we'll get both, but it's much easier to genetically
modify the unborn than to engineer the living.

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derefr
True. However, given some sort of neural re-sequencing technology, the two
processes will become one and the same (though the word "cloning" will fall
into disuse as those engineered won't have exactly the same DNA....)

