Fact is, SONNY, that I watched my closest friend die of glioblastoma multiforme last year; and that with the help of another friend who works in biotechnology and has contacts among some of the leading researchers on that cancer in the US, moved heaven and earth to get access to an experimental treatment for him; but the access came too late for him to benefit from it. I know a thing or two about cancer, both from experience and from research, and you are a fucking asshole to presume otherwise.
The fact that people have died and continue to die of cancer is proof of the deadly power of cancer. Your idea that the medical profession can cure it but CHOOSES NOT TO is petulant infantile fantasy.
Big Red, I'll try to reply to your post tomorrow.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It's little consolation, but GBM is the most deadly cancer. Even with the best treatment possible, it's morbidity is unmatched. There are cancers that kill more people, but there is not, to my knowledge, a cancer that kills a greater percentage of the people it affects. Having known a large number of people who've had it (and died from it) now, all I can say is that it is, in my opinion, the true embodiment of a genetic nightmare. I and many work very hard to see it cured one day and it is hurtful to see people saying they think we'd hide it if we had an effective treatment.
Let me echo what you're saying about cancer treatment.
I have worked intimately with GBM (I am a doctor) and I can tell everyone here: We do not have a cure.
However, we are working damn hard on it, and I'll thank you not to imply or state that we'd hide it.
That said, there are successes. For example:
There has been recent evidence over the past year that vaccinations against EBV (a latent virus that's very common in humans) can kill GBMs in patients. Basically, the GBM starts to express all sorts of latent gene sequences in its DNA including sequences from the Epstein-Barr Virus (which are usually latent and not expressed). By vaccinating against EBV, the immune system attacks any cells expressing EBV proteins--in this case, that would be GBM tumors.
This is the cutting edge of cancer treatment research. You are absolutely insane if you think anyone has anything to gain by hiding the cure for cancer. Not only would it be impossible to hide such a thing from the scientific community (
trust me, I'm part of it, we will find out and let the "secret" out), but the cure for cancer is the golden ticket, folks. Whoever were to own it would be the richest, most successful individual/institute/drug company in the world.
Here is a news story reported by CBS News In San Francisco. The first person to be cured of Aids. I would think the news media would be all over this. However, its not being reported much. Here is the link with a video report. Amazing story.
Apparent Immunity Gene Cures Bay Area Man Of AIDS
The crazy part is, that's not "new" news. The HIV research and greater biomedical research community has known about this for a while now. Why isn't it more common as a treatment?
I'll give you hint: It begins with stem and it ends with the potential of giving people cancer after curing them of HIV. And it's honestly being delayed because anti-retrovirals have proven so incredibly effective that the riskier stem cell treatment is a hard sell generally.
I can honestly say I think we'll have HIV licked completely in the next decade. Probably much sooner. Cancer, though, is a different beast entirely. We already have some forms of it cured, but it is
such a nightmare.