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Do you believe that a cure for cancer exists, but it's not available to the public because medical companies would lose money on treatments?

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  • 63 votes
UrsiMajor 8 Oct 2
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80 comments (51 - 75)

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2

Call me an optimist, but I don't think anything good in cancer treatment is being held back because of cost. On the other hand, pharmaceutical companies are choosing, for economic reasons, not to develop new antibiotics. Lack of research in this area is cause for great concern. The list of "superbugs," bacteria that are resistant to many or all antibiotics, is growing. And with modern transportation these bugs can show up anywhere, at any time.

2

I voted yes but I need to explain myself. There are many types of cancer. This is why we have no cure but we are very close. Look at cancer as you would a computer virus and look at the human body as you would a computer. The virus is targeted with a program that zeros in on it for removal and the human body will have to be done in a similar way to remove cancer. The cancer cells will get a "smart bomb" that attacks them only and leaves the rest of our human cells alone. There is limited success with this already and I see it as the only way of curing cancer. The cancer is not excised. It just stops reproducing itself and the system takes care of what is left.

1

If someone found a cure for cancer, they would be jumping up and down and hollering it from rooftops. They would also be the next Nobel prize winner. Scientist are in it for the money obviousl

1

Cells in the body that replace themselves can replace themselves in a cancerous fashion.

All require different approaches to treatment depending on location and body systems involved.

So no - no cure is being surpressed. Too many factors to treatment and to diagnosis.

1

Unlikely. Researchers are usually not willing to sit on Nobel prize lvl discoveries for a few bucks.

1

Whilst there are and have been innumerable 'shadey' goings on in Oil Companies, Manufacturing Companies, etc, etc, throughout the decades, for the most part, the Pharmaceutical Companies are a basically Ethical and Moral Lot striving to not only research and develop even more successful treatments for Cancers but striving to eradicate Cancers once and for all.
I'll not say that there aren't the odd 'shonkey' small Pharma Companies, because there are, BUT the MAJOR ones have a long-standing Reputation which they have striven hard to develop and maintain over many, many years, a reputation that they would be loathe to see crumble.

1

I wonder the same thing. I'm open for correction but it seems to me that cancer research is such a "cash cow" that it's hard to imagine that finding the cure would be nearly as profitable. There is an entire industry built up around doing the research and testing by, presumably, hundreds of labs all over the word. I also assume a great deal of the funding to support the research is donated that I guess would just go away. That industry would have to shift to other medical research endeavors but could they find something else as compelling as curing cancer to draw as much funding?

OCJoe Level 6 Oct 3, 2018

this relies on the assumption that the only real research is coming out of capitalist countries, and that EVERYONE involved in the research that found a cure for a type of cancer then kept their mouths shut, not just the company, but EVERYONE involved.

this is simply not likely.

No need for a conspiracy theory - people will always be dying of something and be prepared to fund the solution for it.

1

There is seldom need to suppress a cure. Ridicule will do just as good a job.

That is what was done to the discovery 69 years ago by a well-qualified physician that massive amounts of intravenous vitamin c is a general cure for acute viral illnesses:[doctoryourself.com]

As has been mentioned, cancer is a complex family of related diseases, and there will be no single cure. Two already available "cures" are IP6 (promoted by Professor Shamsuddin of U Maryland Medical School), and carrot juice (active ingredient falcarinol). Personally I don't doubt that those two "cures" have cured some cancer patients, but will not cure all cancer patients. [amazon.com] [lewrockwell.com]

1

I am positive there is a cure for all cancers. I believe all cancers are cause by stuff in our environment. The food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breath and I don't believe it is by accident. The cancer industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry and if they announced a cure tomorrow game over. They would be out of business tomorrow so it will never happen. So man kind suffers daily in the name of greed and profits over humanity. Sad Sad Sad. ?

CMan Level 7 Oct 3, 2018

cancer has existed since way before any of the carcinogenic things we now have in our environment were there. ancient greeks had cancer.

g

Cosmic radiation can cause a cell to become cancerous, and that's been around since the big bang. Your argument is baseless.

You need to think that through. Nothing you are saying makes sense, or has any foundation in fact. Let alone basic reasoning.

Not true. If they had a cure, they would make more money in fact.

1

The idea that more money is spent treating than would be curing is probably correct. However, in a truly free market an individual, group or company may only make a small or no portion of this money. Their incentive to find a cure is immense.

I’m sure there is some suppression here and there, but no large scale conspiracy that snuffs medical progress.

1

Nah.

skado Level 9 Oct 2, 2018
1

That's too conspiratorial. I have a little more faith in humanity than that. I also don't believe something that big could be kept secret, because despite that faith, human weakness still exists and also applies to our LACK of ability to keep big secrets.

Agreed

@Morganfreeman I’m sorry but you are wrong. I work in medicine and see people cured all the time. We currently have some of the best medicine on the planet. I’m not sure how you can say say third world countries are better at curing cancer then us.

@Morganfreeman perhaps you should move to one of those third world countries

1

I think it's far more complex than that. It IS true that cancer is a lucrative business, but it's a safe assumption that the cure would be even more advantageous. If nothing else, create a cure that works as long as you take the medicine... Nothing would guarantee huge profits more than that.

Another aspect of the game is that cancer comes in many different forms and has many different ways of expressing itself. Our bodies have cancers in them now, but our immune systems are handling them. It's when they get out of control that they become a problem. Which means that the cure for cancer also involves a better understanding of how it works, how our immune system works, and what steps we as individuals are willing to take to respond to the "preventable" cancers.

I do think, that if we as a species are able to survive the next century, we'll start to figure a lot of this out... But it goes beyond medicine... It's about lifestyle, the stuff we put in our air and ground and water, and how we handle the chemicals around us.

Money is a huge part of it all, definitely, but I'm sure there are millionaires and billionaires who have been affected by cancer and are willing to put up their own money to find a solution.

Interesting your brought up the millionaires and billionaires who get cancer. The Koch brothers were bother treated for cancer at JHU awhile ago. They pretty much built new wings on the school. Somehow the Koch brothers are still alive...

1

No. And a capitalist country would certainly profit from it.

1

Cancers, which are cells in our own bodies that are "sick" and keep dividing to make new cancer cells, are either genetic, passed through the gene pool of families or environmental, triggers in our surroundings cause our cells to become sick. Cures often mean to get rid of a sickness. Unfortunately, some cancers are not "curable" whereas others are and without the uses of many of the toxic treatments given to people. Money makes the world go round. The more we the "people" are convinced to give it up, the more we the "people" lose.

1

It's not that simple, the insurance companies don't do that research. Cancer is not one disease, it is many similar diseases, and one cure will never be found. Some cancers can be cured, many cannot, but more are being found. Universities do the research, often with funding from drug companies. If anyone does not want a cure, it is the drug companies. They prefer to have drugs that make you feel better without a cure, but researchers don't always please them.

0

Last December (2019) my 12 year old boxer mix Bella was diagnosed with a tumor under her tongue. The vet said it was a matter of time and quality of life before she would need to be put to sleep.

The year before, I learned how certain minor cannabinoids would kill tumor cell lines. One variety worked and another didn't, only because a very minor cannabinoid was missing (Although it is still very likely that it is both the minor cannabinoid and the rest, with this combination being described as the Entourage Effect). At that time, I collected several varieties including hemp and mixed them together after activating, and put them in caps.

After coming home from the vet, I immediately started Bella on one cap each night so she wouldn't be incapacitated during the day. It's been a bit rugged with all the bloody drool, but the drool has cleared and Bella now has a big hole in her tongue. She has a bit of trouble eating, but she's alive and enjoys the sun.

I have lots of these caps left if anyone knows someone with cancer and wants to try them. This should NOT be taken as a recommendation to forego or to substitute for conventional medical treatment.

It is insane that this country won't even allow this kind of research. The doctors are scared shitless that if they recommend cannabis, their licenses will be yanked. Yeah, money is more important.

0

There are several treatments for cancer that are better and more effective than the ones being used today I know that much. But there will never be a one shot cure all for cancer (at least I see it as very unlikely) because of all the different types. The real problem is that what is misleadingly called capitalism is l about the money so research is not being done to find new treatment options as Wall Street sees the expensive and not very effective ones as "good enough".

0

Since there are hundreds of forms of cancer,with dozens of causes, it would be impossible to have “a” cure. This paranoid delusion has been crawling around for decades. It makes zero sense, both from a medical point of view (see first sentence) and a financial one: companies are aggressively marketing inane prescription medicines such as cures for toe fungus. Why would they not market a real cure to the hundreds of millions of people with cancer?

0

No. Cancer is not one homogeneous condition, so cures have to be individual and tailored to the patient.

0

No.

1of5 Level 8 Mar 21, 2019
0

Has cancer been cured and they withhold that knowledge just to make more money? A lot of this is about making money but I doubt there is one cure. Cancer is when cells go crazy in different ways and do this for different reasons. "A cure" can be approached by sending a cellular "smart bomb" into the affected area. They are doing this now in approaching a possible cure. It makes sense to me.

0

So as others have pointed out, cancer isn't really a single disease with a single cure, but encompasses a whole array of different afflictions, each with different causes and treatments.

But the idea behind the poll remains. I'd find it much less likely that a drug company would research a cure then hide it than that they just wouldn't bother to invest in the research. The cost/benefit for a for-profit entity just wouldn't justify investing in research toward a cure for a long-term illness that already has expensive (and profitable) treatments. Now, if a non-profit entity managed to discover a cure, the drug companies would fall over themselves to be the one to manufacture it before someone else does and makes their existing treatments obsolete.

0

There isn't money in a cure.

Just death in not having one. You think doctors and drug company employees families and friends don't get and die of cancer?

About 1/2 of the population will encounter cancer in one form or another in their lifetime. Every one of these people would willingly pay to be cured. A “cure for cancer” would be the single most profitable thing ever invented.

0

I believe it's possible. Humans are capable of some downright despicable things. Think of the wars we've been lied into.

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