The War Against Cancer

In 1950, a diagnosis of cancer was but a death sentence without exceptions. Mortality rates only got higher, and as late as 1986, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine lamented: "We are losing the war against cancer." Cancer is one of one of humankind's oldest and most persistent enemies; it has been called the existential disease. However, throughout the decades, Paul Marks - a medical doctor and president emeritus at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - and his brilliant colleagues have found cure and hope in what we originally thought as a fatal disease - cancer. Through their continuous research towards curing cancer, they have successfully increased the average five-year survival rate for cancer patients by 20 percent in the past two decades. Since early 1990s, overall cancer death rate dropped more than 15 percent. Over 90 percent of certain cancers such as Stage I or localized breast, prostate and colon cancer are "cured". Many childhood cancers are also curable.

Going back to the breakthrough of cancer treatment, whereby in 1982, Paul Mars and Charles Young made a proposal to administer a newly developed cancer drug, hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA) to 32 candidates with different types of advanced cancers. Albeit concerned with its implications at first, the team noticed a miraculous recovery of one of the patients four months after the initial administration of drug, where the masses of tumours had simply melted away. Elated with the results, Paul Marks stated that: "We had saved a life. What greater good can you do in medical field? It was, nevertheless, one out of thirty-two. We had a lot more work to do."

"The challenges of cancer go well beyond its lethal tenacity and mutability." -Paul Marks

As much research was done on the treatment of cancer, what matters most would be the strong mental and physical state of the cancer patient. Many tend to give up on their life after being diagnosed, or to abandon treatment that can be harsh and painful, although many cancers are actually curable. A cancer patient has to fight death every single day, as what was portrayed in a popular novel "The fault in our stars", which was inspired by Esther Earl, a girl whom the author John Green was friends with when she was 16 year old of thyroid cancer. The novel describes how 16-year-old cancer patient Hazel Grace Lancaster lives the remaining time of her life fully and meaningfully although it was a short one. The novel in turn inspired many, and was adapted into a film, receiving high-grossed ratings and positive feedback. The life story of a cancer patient may be touching, but their internal conflicts and challenges are tremendous.

References:
1.  Marks, Paul A. & Sterngold, James. 2014. On The Cancer Frontier. USA: PublicAffairs.
2. Green, John. 2012. The Fault in Our Stars. USA: Dutton Books.