3 ms·
If you could count the chromosomes in every cell of a patient's body and specifically kill cells with/without certain numbers, you could cure the cancer. For pr
by nonbel 11y ago
If you could count the chromosomes in every cell of a patient's body and specifically kill cells with/without certain numbers, you could cure the cancer. For practical purposes it is one disease with a single identifying characteristic and molecular target. Only technical limitations are preventing a cure.
No disease manifests exactly the same way in every person, so I don't get the point of calling cancer multiple diseases.
- jack9 11y ago> you could cure the cancer Or you could vaccinate against a virus and prevent the cancer. Not all cancers need to be attacked the same way.
- nonbel 11y ago>"Not all cancers need to be attacked the same way." Ok, but what does that have to do with the (apparently new) idea of calling cancer "multiple diseases"?
- dnautics 11y agoNot all cancers have obvious chromosomal aberrations
- nonbel 11y agoI was very surprised to learn a few years ago that this is <10%, possibly much less depending on measurement error (see my ref above). So then there are two diseases: Aneuploid cancer (>90%) and non-aneuploid cancer (<10%).