Cancer Is A Bunch of Bitches: You Fuckin’ Love Science

In an article for Wonkette, writer Carlos Sagan provides some interesting insights into the recent scientific progresses made in cancer research. Sagan, who has a background in cancer research and drug development, writes in a conversational and off-color way, engaging readers who wouldn’t otherwise seek out literature on cancer research

Sagan starts the article pointing to a common mistake made by those outside of the field: talking about finding a “cure for cancer” as if “cancer” represents a single malady instead of the many forms cancer can take within the human body. He compares this tendency to talking about “disease” as if it didn’t represent all of the many diseases that people can catch.

According to Sagan, in a way we already have a “cure” for cancer: doctors today can identify and remove tumors in early stage cancer. The real problem in fighting cancer lies in identifying it early.

That’s why recent advances by GRAIL, Inc., are particularly exciting. GRAIL’s announcements were made made at the 2018 American Academy of Cancer Research (AACR) meeting, one of the largest cancer research-related conferences in the world. GRAIL’s new strategy relies on a process wherein the blood of patients is examined for dead cancer cells, expelled from tumors in the body as they grow.

While GRAIL’s work is still in the research phase, it represents a great first step toward creating game-changing methods for detecting many different kinds of early-phase cancer.

Read Sagan’s full article about GRAIL’s advancements on Wonkette.