Written by Bernice Trick
Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 |
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Michael Wosnick, scientific director and Vice-president of Research of the Canadian Cancer Society scientific, said there are many who question the value of the major research funds earned annually.
"They say the Canadian Cancer Society has been around for 70 years and cancer much longer than that, so where is the progress?"
Wosnick explains that cancers like testicular and thyroid cancers today have a 95 per cent survival rate. "That's getting pretty close to a cure in my opinion."
"With breast cancer, there's an 86 chance of survival, and if its caught early the chances of a cure are 96 per cent. Colo-rectum cancer is totally curable if it's caught early," said Wosnick who was the guest of the CCS in Prince George Tuesday.
"The fact is we may never find one cure for cancer with 200 or 300 types facing us, and the more we find out, it seems we may have as many types of cancer as patients."
But today's more high tech research is shifting and changing to look at each patients on a personal level.
"Treatments are being designed for a patient according to their background, history, and cancer type and level. Take prostrate cancer, for example, the image may look the same to old school scientists, but a molecular biologist will look at different factors that respond to different treatments. "For myelogenous leukemia very specific treatment is done to understand its molecule level, its cause, and a treatment is designed to fix it." said Wosnick.
"We still have a long way to go, but certainly research is paying off big time. Lung cancer and pancreatic cancer remain two of the tough ones, but researchers are working on it," said Wosnick who offered two presentations on Winning the Fight in Prince George Tuesday.
He has more than 30 years of experience in the research field and has been a major influence in overseeing research programs, strategic plans and cancer control policy.
--btrick@pgcitizen.ca
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 03 November 2009 )
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