KIlling Cancer

Very interesting report from 60 Minutes on killing cancer with the Polio virus.

One of the important things here is that not only was this "cure" taken from treating brain cancer but that it also was tested on breast and prostate cancer among others with good results.

This underscores my main objection to "Titty Cancer Inc." in which the public has been made to think that breast cancer is the most important form of cancer ever and that defeating it is the best thing ever. I have long argued that cancer is cancer is cancer and that the focus on one type is probably bad. Of course 60 Minutes also did a report on "Disrupting Cancer"

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong notably said:

Patrick Soon-Shiong: A cancer is not what people think, cells growing. Cancer is actually the inability of the cells to die.

The key is figuring out the genetic mutation or glitch that prevents cells from dying a natural death. Soon-Shiong's hope is to provide patients with the precise genetic mutations that fuel their cancer regardless of where tumors are found in the body.

Patrick Soon-Shiong: The mutation that happens in lung cancer could be the exact same mutation that happens in the breast cancer. So you need to treat that patient based on its mutation not on its physical, anatomical location.

Interesting thing about the Polio experiment is that in a sense it goes to what Dr. Soon-Shiong says. The body kills the cells like it should.

Sanjay Gupta: That's a big idea. I mean, you know, the idea that the breast cancer specialist, they're looking for breast cancer mutations and they may be missing the ball.

Patrick Soon-Shiong: Absolutely.

Absolutely.