Cancer: The world awaits a cure (i)

By Olatunji Lateef

Despite human advancements in various fields of study, we have not been able to find the cure for cancer, a disease that has continued to ravage the landscape like a train without brakes, moving at very high speed and killing people in millions every year.

Since the cognate cause is hardly known, so also has the cure continued to defy all possible drugs man has been able to produce to put an end to the continuous growth of the malignant cells and tissues that cancer causes. The world over, there are very few survivors of cancer and these survivors can only be described as being lucky or that they acted promptly. Presently, acting promptly by going for cancer screening remains the only way to help victims.

It was magnificent to watch NASA, last year, display a very high level of ingenuity as they took science and technology to another level when their astronomers flew a robot, Rover Curiosity, through space to planet Mars. It was an incredible experiment and a more historical experience as the world stood still to watch on satellite TV Curiosity land in Mars after it has been airborne for about 8 months. It was launched on November 26, 2011 at 7:02am and landed in Mars on August 5, 2012 at 10:32pm.

However, I think the world will be happier to have a cure for cancer than that memorable event of visiting the Mars for the first time. So it is my prayer that God in His infinite mercy, limitless power and knowledge will bestow on all scientists, radiologists, researchers and oncologists working tirelessly to find a solution to this scourge, the knowledge, intelligence and wisdom to get the cure for cancer.

The statistics about cancer today are very scaring and the spread is moving like wild fire. Within the locals, it used to be seen as a disease that afflicts the rich and partially the elderly but today it afflicts all and sundry without any recourse to personality and age.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports show that there are presently more deaths from cancer than AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria combined. In 2008 alone, about 7.6 million people died from cancer, according to WHO and that accounts for about 13% of all deaths in the same year.

The body parts that are most affected by cancer are the lungs, stomach, liver, colon, and the breast. About 30% of cancer deaths are due to the five leading behavioral and dietary risks which include high body mass index, low fruits and vegetable intakes, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, and alcohol use.

In an article published on the Punch of June 19, 2013 titled: Sorry, no cervical cancer vaccine for Nigerian women written by Bukola Adebayo, the Founder/President Global Health Strategies, Mr. David Gold purports that “the world is lucky that there is a cancer that can be prevented using a vaccine. It means that it can be eliminated from mankind but the question is, when?

If and how many of our sisters, daughters and mothers will die of cervical cancer before we eradicate this preventable disease from the world…”. So far, cervical cancer is the only form of cancer that has recorded this level of success in man’s long search for the cure and prevention of all forms of cancer.

The vaccine is however very expensive and beyond the reach of the vast majority of the female population who need to be inoculated against this scourge. With early detection, there are drugs that can prevent the malignant cells from spreading to other parts of the body. So going for cancer screening is about the only way to stop cancer and the best prospect for effective treatment.

Presently, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the two ways of managing cancer. Sometimes, both are administered to patients as a combined therapy when the cancerous tumours are much. They are both very painful, expensive and still do not give full assurance of a cure.