RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:The cure for cancer From Princess Margaret Hospital I thought this article on WebMD.com was a reasonable way to look at it. Not everybody who receives TLD1433 pdt for NMIBC will be cured. But some people will be. The higher the "cure" rate, and the fewer the adverse side effects, the better the treatment.
Is There a Cure for Cancer? When you have cancer, or care about someone who does, “cure” may be the word you want to hear more than any other. It’s also a word most doctors won’t say.
Unlike other diseases, cancer has its own language: There’s no cure for it, but there are treatments that may be able to cure some people of some cancers.
When you understand the difference, it makes all the difference.
Understanding Cancer
“Fruit” is a general term you use to cover many different kinds: apples, cranberries, pineapple and more.
Likewise, “cancer” is a catch-all word for more than 200 types, including cancers of the bladder, brain, breast, colon, eye, kidney, liver, lungs, ovaries, and skin.
When you have cancer, abnormal cells develop, divide, and destroy healthy tissue in your body. Some types grow slowly; others spread quickly. Each kind starts in a different part of your body and has its own grades, stages, and symptoms.
Because every kind of cancer is different, there’s no one-size-fits-all cure. But sometimes, people may say they are cured if their cancer seems to go away with treatment. But it’s not quite that simple.
Cure vs. Cured vs. Remission
For centuries, doctors have used the word “cure” to describe a medical condition that’s completely gone and will never come back. For example, if you have appendicitis and doctors remove your appendix, you’ve been cured.
In the language of cancer, “cure” works differently.
Doctors can give you their best perspective, based on statistics from large groups of people, on whether or not your cancer will come back. But no doctor can guarantee that you’ll be cured.
There are two reasons for this:
1 - Doctors don’t know everything about the disease yet.
2 - Some cancer cells may remain somewhere in the body and can grow, divide, and become a new tumor. So doctors avoid saying you’re cured.
Instead of talking about “cures,” most medical professionals use the word “treatment.” If you have treatment, and your cancer doesn’t come back the rest of your life, you’re considered cured.
“Remission” is another key word. It means that your cancer symptoms have gone away. It’s different from a cure because remission doesn’t always last for the rest of your life.
Treatment
There are no cures for any kinds of cancer, but there are treatments that may cure you.
Many people are treated for cancer, live out the rest of their life, and die of other causes. Many others are treated for cancer and still die from it, although treatment may give them more time: even years or decades...................................