Why is it so hard to cure cancer?

We have eradicated smallpox, mapped the human genome, and harnessed electricity. However, despite spending billions on research, we still don't have a cure for a disease that affects more than 14 million people and their families on a yearly basis. Mutations in normal cells lead to the development of cancer. Cells can frequently recognize mutations or DNA damage and either repair them or self-destruct. Some alterations, on the other hand, enable malignant cells to grow unrestrained, infiltrate surrounding tissues, or even metastasis to distant regions. Once they have spread, cancers are nearly incurable. And cancer is a highly complex disease. More than one sickness exists. There are more than 100 different varieties, and there is no single panacea that can treat them all. Treatments for the majority of malignancies often combine surgery to remove tumors with radiation and chemotherapy to eradicate any remaining malignant cells. There are also times when hormone therapies, immunotherapy, and targeted cancer treatments are used. These treatments are frequently successful, and the patient is clear of cancer. But they are hardly ever completely successful. So what would we need to do to discover treatments for every type of cancer? Some of the challenges faced by scientists are starting to make sense.First, we require fresh, improved approaches to cancer research. Cell lines created in laboratories from cultures of human malignancies are used to create the majority of cancer treatments. These cultured cells have helped us understand important aspects of cancer biology and genetics, but they don't have nearly the intricacy of a tumor in a real living thing. New medications that are effective in lab-grown cells usually fail in clinical trials with actual patients. The fact that aggressive tumors can have many populations of malignant cells that differ significantly adds to their complexity. Unique subclones are created as a result of the accumulation of distinctive genetic alterations in cells located throughout the tumor throughout time.For instance, glioblastomas, which are aggressive brain tumors, can include as many as six separate subclones in a single patient. This is referred to as clonal heterogeneity, and it makes treatment challenging because a medication may be effective on one subclone but ineffective on another. Here's a new obstacle. A tumor is a dynamic, linked environment in which cancer cells are constantly in contact with neighboring healthy cells as well as with one another. They can cause healthy cells to develop blood arteries that provide the tumor with nutrients and eliminate waste. Additionally, they can interact with the immune system to actively suppress it, preventing it from identifying or eliminating the cancer. For instance, glioblastomas, which are aggressive brain tumors, can include as many as six separate subclones in a single patient. This is referred to as clonal heterogeneity, and it makes treatment challenging because a medication may be effective on one subclone but ineffective on another. Here's a new obstacle. A tumor is a dynamic, linked environment in which cancer cells are constantly in contact with neighboring healthy cells as well as with one another. They can cause healthy cells to develop blood arteries that provide the tumor with nutrients and eliminate waste. Additionally, they can interact with the immune system to actively suppress it, preventing it from identifying or eliminating the cancer.Even if we were to fix those issues, other ones might still arise. Cancer cells are experts at adaptation; they change their cellular and molecular makeup to endure stress. Some cancer cells can efficiently activate defense mechanisms against whatever is harming them by altering their gene expression when they are exposed to radiation or chemotherapy. Complex systems that are constantly evolving and adapting are malignant tumors. Finding experimental methods that match their complexity and monitoring and therapy choices that can adapt as the cancer changes will help us overcome them. However, the good news is that we are moving forward. The average mortality rate for the majority of cancer types has dramatically decreased since the 1970s and is still declining, despite everything we don't know. Every new piece of knowledge adds another weapon to our armory as we continue to learn more every day.