Cure for cancer!

[smalls kenobi]

this Article is a couple months old but it's still important. Canadian Researchers have discovered a simple cure for cancer:
http://nutritiondietnews.com/canadian-researchers-obtain-a-simple-cure-for-cancer-but-major-pharmaceutical-corporations-arent-interested/853757/

[Adventureless_Hero]

Is this for real? What the frick? So because it can not be patent and pharmecudical companies can't make money off of it, it's not being persued? There is something seriously wrong with that.

[smalls kenobi]

yeah, this is real. and it's complete bullshit.

[Wicked Sid]

The thing with cancer is that even within the different variations (lung, heart, brain, etc) it differs from person to person. So, in essence, you'd need to find a million cures for a million cancers.

Besides, this is not a 'Cure for Cancer' as you say, but the beginnings of that cure. The base work of what needs to built upon.

[j0be]

There have been other "cures" including down syndrome (http://www.disaboomlive.com/blogs/saydrah/archive/2009/05/21/people-with-down-syndrome-rarely-get-cancer-scientists-discover-one-reason-why.aspx).

In response to the original post: The history of drug research is littered with examples of compounds that looked promising during early reasearch (eg in rats) and don't do crap once they are subjected to Phase II trials.

Also, here is a less sensational look at the discovery. (http://www.dca.med.ualberta.ca/Home/Updates/2007-03-15_Update.cfm)

Also, one more note: Immunotherapy is currently heavily researched as a cancer treatment. Instead of trying to prime the immune system by infecting the tumor with bacteria, the current (and much more refined) method of choice is to culture immune cells with samples of the tumor (to make them sensitive to the tumor-specific antigens that arise as a result of mutations) and re-introduce the cells to the body. It hasn't been perfected yet, which is why your doctor won't use it.