Kleinhenz 1

Annika Kleinhenz

Marcia Hughes

English Composition 1201

19 March 2022

Literature Review - Why is There No Cure for Cancer?

The question “why isn’t there a cure for cancer” has been asked many times but never truly

answered. Considering how many people get diagnosed with cancer each day and how doctors have spent

years researching cancer, it is weird to think that no one has produced a cure. Just what makes cancer still

hard to treat? Why is it that no one has found a cure yet?

Gentry’s article “Why Haven't We Cured Cancer Yet?” describes the basics of cancer as well as

the overall definition. As stated, cancer is a term used to define the condition in which a person’s cells

rapidly divide and reproduce uncontrollably. This is caused by a genetic mutation inside of a cell which

can be triggered by outside factors like smoking, genetics, or purely out of chance. During the process of

rapid cell division, healthy tissue is destroyed leaving the body with failing organs and sometimes tumors

(Gentry).

There are numerous distinct types of cancer (over 200 to be exact) and each one appears in a

different location and has different symptoms and conditions. Because of this, there are plenty of

treatments to combat cancer, each having a specific purpose. Common treatments are chemotherapy,

surgery, radiation, and treated therapy (Ogasawara). All these examples take a different approach when

attacking cancer. Both Wencheng and Brinkman explain in their articles that chemotherapy is the use of

drugs to shrink or destroy tumors and cancer cells; it travels throughout one’s body targeting rapidly

growing cells. They also describe how despite chemotherapy being a good option there are still
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improvements to be made. The drugs in chemotherapy target any cell that divides quickly, so hair and nail

cells will slow or stop growing as well as other side effects.

Wencheng’s article “Nanomedicine-enabled chemotherapy-based synergetic cancer treatments.”

mentions that there is still a lot of unknown information about cancer which is part of the reason as to

why it is so difficult to treat (Wencheng, 17). Without the right information it can be hard for doctors to

figure out what and how they are going to carry out what they are trying to accomplish. Doctors are not

completely blind to the matter and improvements are constantly being made, but there is still a lot to be

learned about cancer that is still left in the dark.

The article “Is There a Cure for Cancer?” explains the definition of being cured and shows the

differences between cure, treatment, and remission. Most people think that being cured is just getting rid

of anything that is harming one’s health, but that is only half of it. The definition of a cure is a disease,

sickness, etc. that has been rid of completely and is promised to never return. These restrictions make it

difficult for doctors to say that they have cured a patient of their cancer since they can never truly promise

that someone's cancer will stay away forever. However, someone is normally considered “cured” of

cancer if they had remained in remission for a couple of years on end. A treatment is a type of medication

or process that is meant to help someone recover from a medical condition. The reason a treatment is not

considered a cure is simply because it is not guaranteed to work and might even make someone’s

condition worse. Remission is a term used to state that someone’s symptoms have gone away. The issue

is that you cannot tell how long remissions will last if they even do, there is no guarantee that it will last

the rest of someone’s life (Bonvissuto).

Resistance to treatment is another reason that contributes to why cancer does not have a direct

cure. “How Can We Tell If Chemotherapy Is Working?” explains how cancerous cells can start to resist

chemotherapy over time. One of the possible reasons for this is that the cancer cells can mutate in a way

that the drugs from chemotherapy no longer affect them (Brinkman). Resistance affects all sorts of

treatments, and it is not subject to chemotherapy which makes treating cancer a challenge.
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There are always alternative treatments if something does not work, but even so, there is the

problem of a recurrence occurring. A good example of this is OCCC (Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma).

Ogasawara explains in his article “Current and future strategies for treatment of ovarian clear cell

carcinoma.” that OCCC (ovarian clear cell carcinoma) is a type of cancer that tends to resist

chemotherapy However, there is a suitable alternative for this specific cancer. Radiotherapy is a good

option since it helps treat OCCC while also having good chances of avoiding recurrences (Ogasawara, 3).

A recurrence is when someone’s cancer returns. There is not a guarantee that someone will have a

relapse, but it is not promised that it will not happen either. For example, earlier it was stated that

radiotherapy has proven to have low recurrence rates with OCCC, but it is not definite, and someone can

still have a relapse despite the odds of not having a recurrence being in their favor.
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Works Cited Page

Brinkman, Curtis. et al. “How Can We Tell If Chemotherapy Is Working?” Chemocare, 2022,

https://chemocare.com/chemotherapy/what-is-chemotherapy/how-to-tell-if-chemotherapy-

is-working.aspx

Bonvissuto, Danny. “Is There a Cure for Cancer?” WebMD, 17 May 2020,

https://www.webmd.com/cancer/guide/cure-for-cancer.

Gentry, Marilyn. “Why Haven't We Cured Cancer Yet? Our Experts Have the Answers.”

Worldwide Cancer Research, 18 Mar. 2021,

https://www.worldwidecancerresearch.org/news-opinion/2021/march/why-havent-we cured-

cancer-yet/

Ogasawara, Aiko. et al. “Current and future strategies for treatment of ovarian clear cell

carcinoma.” Wiley Blackwell, September 2020, Vol. 46,

https://browzine.com/libraries/2957/journals/11746/issues/354416329showArticleInContext

=doi:10.1111/jog.14350

Wu, Wencheng. et al. “Nanomedicine-enabled chemotherapy-based synergetic cancer treatments.”

Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 4 January 2022,

https://browzine.com/libraries/2957/journals/130/issues/460039074