Magdalena Vermonte

Bio-1090
Taking Sides

Are We Winning the War on Cancer?

In an essay entitled, Winning the War on Cancer: Public Health or Public policy
Challenge?, John R. Seffrin argues that the war on cancer is being won, but could be won faster
and more completely. He finds reassurance in the fact that some of the leading causes of cancer
have been scientifically identified: tobacco consumption heading the list. And, he argues for
more action to help reduce the use of tobacco in order to prevent 12 million more unnecessary
deaths by 2020.
Mr. Seffirin stresses the need to ...accelerate discovery by redoubling and balancing our
cancer research portfolio and goes on to passionately assert If we fail to continue stoking the
engines of research we will effectively renege on our nations commitment to the American
people. And thats Wrong! (Seffrin, page 59, Winning the War on Cancer: Public Health or
Public Policy Challenge? Taking Sides reading Biology 1090, Human Biology. 2. McGraw Hill,
2013.) According to Mr. Seffrin, if we do not proceed to do the right things to prevent cancer
and defeat it, it will not only keep on taking lives, but also harm our nations economy. He
bolsters this claim by pointing out that many cancers, such as lung cancer, often attack people
when they are in their prime and earning their highest level of income, so defeating cancer will,
in such cases, not only save lives, but also benefit the economy.

Reynold Spector, the author of another essay in the same collection, also writes
concerning cancer from a different point of view. His piece, entitled The War on Cancer: A
Progress Report for Skeptics, argues that although some individuals win personal battles
against cancer, the overall war on that dreaded disease is not being won. Mr. Spector suggests
that comparing strides made in fighting strokes and cardiovascular diseases to what has been
accomplished in fighting cancer makes it clear that not nearly as much progress has been made in
meeting the challenge of cancer. Efficient methods to prevent or control strokes and
cardiovascular diseases have been discovered and/or developed, and are not simply limited to
beta blockers, aspirin, and calcium channel blockers; yet when it comes to cancer, there is only
one truly effective way to stop the diseasesurgery. All the other cancer treatments (radiation,
chemotherapy, and so called smart drugs) not only have alarming side effects but have not
proven effective in adding years of life expectancy to patients receiving such treatments. Mr.
Spector also states that even though various treatments are offered for cancer, and some things
are known about the many forms cancer can take, there is still no understanding of how the
disease actually works and even what causes it: For example, we do not know exactly how
smoking causes cancer; in most cases, we do not know how acquired mutations cause cancer
(Spector, page 65, The War on Cancer: A Progress Report for Skeptics Taking Sides reading
Biology 1090, Human Biology. 2. McGraw Hill, 2013.)
Six reasons for the failure of the war on cancer are explained by Mr. Spector: (1)
we dont understand the cause/pathogenesis in most case of cancer; (2) most treatments
(except surgery) are nonspecific cell killersmaking them not nearly smart enough; (3)
Clinical Trials and the grand system dont foster innovation and a badly in need of reform;
(4) screening for useful drugs against caner cells has not worked; (5) animal models of

cancer are often inadequate; and, (6) unproductive facts in research come and go
(Spector, page 70.) In conclusion, Spector states that winning the war on cancer will
require obtaining real understanding of cancer and the creation of true smart drugs not
so-called ones.
Is the war on cancer being won? I now have doubts. John R. Seffrin is very optimistic
and explains how he thinks cancer is being beaten and can ultimately be overcome. Yet, he fails
to present facts that convince me of his assertions. Mr. Seffrin dwells on the smoking of
tobacco as one of the leading causes of cancer: In the last century tobacco has killed over 100
million people (Seffrin, page 66.) While this number is impressive and highlights the hazards
of tobacco smoking or chewing, it does not show me any winning against cancer. Another
point that Mr. Seffrin emphasizes is the need to continue and expanding research efforts,
promoting and elevating prevention (Seffrin, page 59.) So, although Mr. Seffrin provides
worthwhile suggestions of how to best increase our understanding, prevention, and treatment of
cancerand one day being able to beat ithowever he does not document enough progress to
convince me that the war is actually being won.
Reynolds Spectors piece, on the other hand, presents reasonable points seeming to show
the war on cancer is being lostat least at present. One of his most convincing points, already
mentioned above, is that the causes and mechanisms of most forms of cancers are still largely a
mystery (Spector, page 70.) Rightly, he questions how so many doctors and scientist can argue
they are winning a war that no one really understand? He admits that there are some treatments
known to fight some forms of cancer, and that at least one major cause of cancer (tobacco) has
been identified. Yet, even in the case of tobacco, Mr. Specors underscores the factt that the exact
mechanism by which smoking or chewing causes cancer is still an unsolved mystery. When it

comes to prevention efforts, Mr. Spector points out, as an example, that screening for prostate
cancer may not be as useful as once thought. He points out that at autopsy, approximately 30
percent (or more) of men have cancer foci in their prostate glands, yet only 1 to 2 percent of men
die of prostate cancer (Spector, page 67.) While admitting that it is better to screen for cancer
and treat it rather than simply ignoring the problem, Spector asserts that there is over diagnosing
and unnecessary spending of resources because not enough is known about which types of
cancer are malignant and which benign.
After reading both essays, I now believe that while some progress may have been made
towards winning against cancer, and in finding out how to better to cure the disease, not nearly
enough has been done and there is still a very long way to go. Better ways to treat cancer need to
be found: ways that arent nearly as costly or harmful to the patient as those commonly used
today. I also now believe that more time and money should be spent on understanding the
disease in depth in order to find ways to prevent the disease, in its many forms, rather than
treating it after the fact. If we were to spend more time on researching the disease itself
specifically what exactly causes cancer and precisely how it is formedwe would be able to
create better drugs and treatments that would be able to fight the disease.
For example, if a way to could be found to attack the disease alone, rather than using
treatments that are simply attacking healthy as well as cancerous cells, we would then be able to
fight cancer more efficiently and cause less side effects to the person being treated. Im not sure
how society as a whole could help move forward this cause (certainly, everyone is not going to
become a doctor or scientist specializing in cancer.) I feel fairly certain that those doctors and
scientists who do specialize in cancer need to start finding new ways of understanding cancer,
preventing it, and treating it rather than calling the current small progress enough to win any war.

People need to stop thinking that the fight against this epidemic is being won and start actually
doing something new to change the situation.
During this semester we have learned about many interesting things, from the theory of
evolution to gene and DNA modification. In this class I have learned how cells work and how
fascinating the human body can be. This is the first biology class I have taken that was not only
interesting but that I could also understand. The book was informative but also used real life
scenarios that would make it easier to understand each process or each theory it was covering. I
finally understood that the scientific method is not only used in lab experiments but for every
scientific theory that is known to this day. I am very glad I have taken this class, and look
forward to learning more about biology.

Works Cited
Seffrin, John R. Winning the War on Cancer: Public Health or Public Policy Challenge?
Taking Sides reading Biology 1090, Human Biology. 2. McGraw Hill, 2013. 56-61.

Spector, Reynold The War on Cancer: A Progress Report for Skeptics

Taking Sides reading Biology 1090, Human Biology. 2. McGraw Hill, 2013. 62-71.