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I'm not at all an expert in this field, but I don't find that argument from Nautilus compelling. Cancer in an individual results from a mutation of a healthy ce
by benchaney 10y ago
I'm not at all an expert in this field, but I don't find that argument from Nautilus compelling. Cancer in an individual results from a mutation of a healthy cell. It doesn't get spread from some other person who has cancer. Because of this, there is no mechanism for it to get better at fighting against modern medicine in a global sense. It might improve somewhat within the context of a single person, but this wouldn't pose a long term issue to developing medication that could eventually beat it with a high degree of certainty.
- Broken_Hippo 10y agoSome cancers are, in fact, spread from person to person. The HPV virus, for example, is responsible for many instances of cervical cancer - and I'm pretty sure it can cause throat and/or penile cancer as well. Not everyone that gets the virus gets cancer, but it is exceedingly common.
- benchaney 10y agoMy understanding is that the virus increases the likelihood of contracting cancer because it suppresses the immune system, which is normally responsible for killing cancer cells. The cancer itself is still the result of a mutation in a healthy cell from the same person who has contracted it.