Triumph or tragedy: progress in cancer

Cancer is probably the number one research area among all human endeavors, receiving the largest portion of science funding in most countries. This is because cancer remains one of the oldest conundrums among all human maladies. Although we now have a greater understanding of the biological and molecular basis of cancer, its diagnosis and therapy still pose great challenges. In this review, our aim is not to establish a comprehensive understanding of cancer, which is essentially impossible, but to outline, in a more provocative way, why cancer research in the pursuit of a cure did not live up to its promise, as the death rate from cancer has not changed much after almost half a century. In addition, we discuss some future perspectives to give some insight into cancer research and debunk the old view that pouring money into cancer research is the only way to overcome this dreadful disease.

Triumph or tragedy: progress in cancer

Cancer is probably the number one research area among all human endeavors, receiving the largest portion of science funding in most countries. This is because cancer remains one of the oldest conundrums among all human maladies. Although we now have a greater understanding of the biological and molecular basis of cancer, its diagnosis and therapy still pose great challenges. In this review, our aim is not to establish a comprehensive understanding of cancer, which is essentially impossible, but to outline, in a more provocative way, why cancer research in the pursuit of a cure did not live up to its promise, as the death rate from cancer has not changed much after almost half a century. In addition, we discuss some future perspectives to give some insight into cancer research and debunk the old view that pouring money into cancer research is the only way to overcome this dreadful disease.

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Turkish Journal of Biology-Cover
  • ISSN: 1300-0152
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 6 Sayı
  • Yayıncı: TÜBİTAK
Sayıdaki Diğer Makaleler

The effect of survivin gene promoter polymorphism on breast cancer

Mehmet Deniz ALTIPARMAK, Celal İsmail BİLGİÇ, Nüzhet Cenap DENER, Esra GÜNDÜZ, Sibel YENİDÜNYA, Muradiye ACAR, Meral ŞEN, Mehmet GÜNDÜZ

Invadopodia: proteolytic feet of cancer cells

Gizem BATI, Devrim Pesen OKVUR

Genotoxic, cytotoxic, and apoptotic effects of crude extract of Usnea filipendula Stirt. in vitro

Serap ÇELİKLER KASIMOĞULLARI, Seyhan ORAN, Ferda ARI, Engin ULUKAYA

Cancer chemopreventive effect of dietary Zataria multiflora essential oils

Abolfazl DADKHAH, Faezeh FATEMI, Mohammad Reza MOHAMMADI MALAYERI, Azadeh RASOOLI

It takes 2 antioxidants to tango: the interaction between manganese superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase-1

Dede N. EKOUE, Alan M. DIAMOND

Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of ceranib-2 offering potential for a new antineoplastic agent in the treatment of cancer cells

Djanan VEJSELOVA, Hatice Mehtap KUTLU, Gökhan KUŞ, Selda KABADERE, Ruhi UYAR

Analysis of “Bimbam”, a novel glucocorticoid-induced BH3-only transcript in cell lines and children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Muhammad MANSHA, Muhammad WASIM, Ali Raza AWAN, Asma Abdul LATIF

Evaluation of MUC1, CK20, and hTERT expression in peripheral blood of gastrointestinal cancer patients in search of diagnostic criteria

Sibel KÜÇÜKYILDIRIM, Beril ERDEM, Emel SAĞLAR, Zülfikar POLAT, Hatice MERGEN

Multidrug resistance in chronic myeloid leukemia

Miray ÜNLÜ, Yağmur KİRAZ, Fatma Necmiye KACI, Mehmet Ali ÖZCAN, Yusuf BARAN

Loss of heterozygosity in ING3 and ING5 genes in breast cancer

Esra GÜNDÜZ, Gökhan NAS, Muradiye ACAR, Eyyüp ÜÇTEPE