Question: Is there a potential cure for cancer in the future?

Sam Smith answered on 10 Mar 2016:

Thanks Chloe, this type of question has come up quite a lot since we’ve started this. So here goes…

My simple answer would be yes. The more complicated answer is that cancer is not just one disease, there are over 100 different types of cancer and all of them will be treated differently. Even within a single cancer (e.g. breast cancer), there are tens of different types that respond differently to different types of treatment. So I believe that there will not be one single treatment for all cancer, I do believe that all cancers can be treated one day. Some cancers are really awful and grow quickly, making it difficult to find them and treat them effectively. So we may be some way off being able to find a cure for them. But for some, I hope that in my lifetime we will see them being cured completely.

Preventing cancers is also important, and although not all of them can be prevented, I think we need to do better and stopping those that can be. Encouraging people to stop smoking is probably going to be the most effective way of stopping lots of cancers happening, but it’s such an addictive behaviour it can be really difficult to give up.

Hope that answers your question, but i’d be interested in your opinion!