The Big C": Why cancer is no longer a death sentence

 

A few decades back, receiving a diagnosis of cancer used to mean being handed a death sentence.

In the 1960s, a lesser understanding of the disease caused an old fear that cancer is contagious to resurface following an increase in the number of kids in the US state of Illinois getting leukaemia. People there worried a "cancer virus" was responsible for the "epidemic".

Quite similar to the Covid-19 pandemic, at the time, those who came in close contact with sufferers would spray surfaces with disinfectant and be cautious about not sharing cutlery with them.

Towards the 1970s, people often compared a diagnosis of cancer with a 50-50 chance of survival. The survivors were often subjected to blanket therapies which hit the whole body hard while trying to attack mutations.

Fortunately, cancer is much more understood now. The field of oncology is no longer the same as it was 25 years back, said Professor Tony Mok, chairman of the department of clinical oncology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

While between 1941 and 1970, just 16 cancer drugs were approved by the US Food And Drug Administration, the figure rose to more than 160 between 1971 and 2020.

In addition to a broader selection of drugs and better drugs, technology has also undergone rapid advancement. Screening for some cancers is so effective now that if common forms of the disease are detected early, survival rates are as high as 99%.

Cancer deaths have fallen by 33% in the past 30 years, the American Cancer Society highlights in its recently published Cancer Facts and Figures 2023.

Nonetheless, "the Big C" is still a frightening diagnosis. But people now are better aware of what lifestyle choices to make to minimise risks. For instance, global smoking rates have dropped since 1990, down by 40% for women and 27% for men.

The amount of regular screening for a wide variety of cancers has risen over the years. But screening for lung cancer lags behind, Professor Mok said, adding screening tests for the cancer need to become affordable and more accessible.

A lot more cancer vaccines are expected to come up soon. Leading Covid-19 vaccine developer BioNTech is currently working on cancer vaccines that could help prod the immune system to fight harmful cells.