Triumph or tragedy: progress in cancer


ERENLER A. Ş., GEÇKİL H.

TURKISH JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY, cilt.38, sa.6, ss.701-707, 2014 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Derleme
  • Cilt numarası: 38 Sayı: 6
  • Basım Tarihi: 2014
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3906/biy-1407-41
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.701-707
  • İnönü Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Cancer is probably the number one research area among all human endeavors, receiving the largest portion of science funding in most countries. This is because cancer remains one of the oldest conundrums among all human maladies. Although we now have a greater understanding of the biological and molecular basis of cancer, its diagnosis and therapy still pose great challenges. In this review, our aim is not to establish a comprehensive understanding of cancer, which is essentially impossible, but to outline, in a more provocative way, why cancer research in the pursuit of a cure did not live up to its promise, as the death rate from cancer has not changed much after almost half a century. In addition, we discuss some future perspectives to give some insight into cancer research and debunk the old view that pouring money into cancer research is the only way to overcome this dreadful disease.