Medical & Clinical Research

Author(s): Kangla Tsung

We have been hoping for breakthrough in the “war on cancer” for long (decades), and we expect it will come one day with the discovery of a “miracle drug”. With time lapsing and repeated showing the same limited effects of new drugs, that expectation is gradually fading. What if the miracle drug does not exist by theory? As this opinion/perspective argues, breakthrough in cancer management does not have to be a drug, it may well come from the science behind using current drugs or treatments. We have been ignoring cancer medicine for long and it is time to bring up our attention to it because it can be demonstrated that using existing means, but with different ways of selecting and using them, we may significantly increase (double or triple) patient survival while significantly decreasing the cost for achieving such goals. If that is not a breakthrough, I don’t know what else is. Thus, all we have to do is to find out ways to bring it to cancer clinics everywhere. The first step is to change our concept and acknowledge its significance. That is the purpose of this writing.