What does a theoretical cure for cancer look like?

[Cloned]

I come from a pharmacy background so this question is naturally of interest to me.

First question: is it even possible? Given the very definition of what cancer is and, more importantly, what it isn’t - something foreign - can a cure, in the traditional sense of the word, be designed?

Second question: can we already cure some forms of cancer? I guess you have to start with some parameters. Is surgical removal and subsequent chemotherapy considered a cure? Is cancer relapse a different concept than, say, being “cured” of strep throat once and then getting it again a year later?

Third question: ignoring the above, what would an effective catch-all cure look like?

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[PredsV82]

Sorry for a tardy reply, but the answer to your questions start with an understanding that "cancer" isnt a solitary process. There are malignancies for every type of tissue in the body and they all behave differently so there will never be a single "cure" for all forms of cancer.

Almost all cancers are curable right now if discovered early enough.

Surgical removal of all malignant cells is curative of any cancer. The problem is you cant always surgically remove all the cancer cells. When you cannot do so, radiation and/or chemotherapy can be curative, either alone, in combination, or as adjuvant treatment after surgically removing as much as possible.

Most of the time the cancers that arent cured and lead to death had already spread beyond the organ of origin to other places in the body by the time they are detected. These are the cases we need better medicines for.

Hope this explained things