Gotta say a bit about this.

We tell you about Mayberry because his case sheds light on why cancer is
on track to kill 565,650 people in the United States this year—more than
1,500 a day, equivalent to three jumbo jets crashing and killing
everyone aboard 365 days a year. First, it shows the disconnect between
the bench and the bedside, between what science has discovered about
cancer and how doctors treat it. Biologists have known for at least two
decades that it is the rare cancer that can be completely cured through
surgery. Nevertheless, countless proud surgeons keep assuring countless
anxious patients that they "got it all."

The big C is a strange disease.  If 3 jets a day crashed the politicians
would be all over it like a wet sheet.  But with the 'C' word no one
seems to care.  The feeling seems to be let them die or ignore them.

Steve B
 Date of Birth 12-1950   Dx date 2-2007:CS=T4N1Mb, age57:1st measured PSA 1.6, 5-2004:PSA at DX 9.6 , gleason 9, psa doubling time at Dx 3.5 mo: Treatment ACT | Searching for a cure for androgen independent PCa  | Last measured PSA 5.99 11/4/08 after ADT failure, last psa doubling time 3.5 month, T< 20
Esitmated survival time 2 years.  Planned lifespan over 90.

This disease sucks...

Looking through the responses to that article, bypassing the usual
silly claptrap, I found this response by "sbvandepol".

I thought it was pretty good.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment: The overall tone of the article is one of frustration. I think
this arises from a gross underestimate by everyone of the scope and
complexity of the problem. "Curing cancer" will require a fundamental
understanding of life. It is the most difficult and complex problem in
the history of man. It was always our ignorance of the difficulty that
gave rise to misplaced optimism that this could be solved in 37 years
and 200 billion dollars (1 year of the war in Iraq). Curing cancer is
not a 37 year project, it is a 75 to 100 year project. The idea that we
could uncover the mystery of a single living cell, and then how billions
of cells co-operate together to make a human being (that usually
prevents even one aberrant cell from "declaring independence" to make a
cancer) in a 37 year "war" is laughable. The 'war on cancer" has not
been a failure, it has been a spectacular success, but we are only one
third into it!

The "war on cancer" is the wrong metaphor. In earlier eras, a town would
devote over 100 years to the building of a cathedral for the glory of
God. It was accepted that the cathedral would not be completed in the
lifetime of even two generations. Despite our great resources, the
dedication of our physicians and scientists, and the spectacular advance
of technology, we are engaged in a similar undertaking that is
expensive, intense, and the work of generations. Although rethinking
priorities and questioning approaches is always appropriate, understand
that we are building a cathedral of knowledge, stone by stone, and it
will be the most glorious in history, and it will last forever. It
requires faith, persistence, resources, and dedication. Understanding
this might also give a little peace of mind to those who are
disappointed that the goal is not yet achieved in their own lives or in
the lives of a stricken loved one. The correct response is not to walk
away, leaving foundations and walls without a ceiling, but is to pick up
a stone, carefully place it, and then another.