Canadian Scientists Cure Cancer?

[Elessar]

hey guys, anyone heard about this?

Canadian Scientists Cure Cancer but Nobody Notices

So goes the claim - I was wondering if D and Asso would chime in. There are sometimes those scientific web publications out there who like to sensationalize because they're all anti-establishmentary, but if this is true I was hoping to raise awareness of it so that it can become known. It would be unforgivable if it's really not catching on because it's not patentable - but I'd like to know if there's legit science behind it or if it's some kind of hypothesis.

[Distracted]

I agree with this guy.

[Silverbullet]

If there was some way the Drug companies could exploit this for profit they wuld be like car companies: dragging it out over a long time to squeeze as much profit as possible. I hope that some company with a heart instead of a chash register developes and manufactures the drug and sells it for a reasonable price. won't happen but one can dream

SB

[justTripn]

There is one aspect of this story that does ring true. A potential cure could exist and NOT get developed. Not because anyone did anything bad but because there is no incentive for any firm or institution to take on the huge risky project. A similar problem exists with diseases like malaria and AIDS that kill huge numbers of poor people. If a cheap cure were ever discovered, the drug companies know they would probably be forced to make it available for free, so that there is no monetary incentive for the drug companies to pour money into work on an cheap cure. A way around this is to have Bill Gates or the World Bank or some huge foundation promise that IF a cheap cure is ever found the foundation pledges to buy the drug for everyone at a certain price per person. Also I heard about this four years ago. Maybe this strategy is in place? In any case, I don't blame the writer of the article for trying to publicize this institutional problem.

[Cogito]

In the UK, cancer research charities are very active and fund a lot of research. I expect it's similar in other countries. Wherever a disease affects a log of people, it will become important to them to cure it. Get enough people willing to pay for something to happen and it'll happen, even without the profit incentive.

[Elessar]

Ick! I wish it could have been anyone but PZ Meyers. The guy's a serial contrarian and professional skeptic. He may know what he's talking about but I think it's worth skipping to the very end of the article to get the jist without wasting any time:

I can't blame the industry for not following up on this: a clinical trial costs millions of dollars, and even if DCA pans out, there is no profit at all to be gained from it. For this research, we have to turn to public support (they have an interest in better cancer treatments!) and to scientists and doctors themselves, who of course have a great personal interest in seeing their patients get better.

[justTripn]

Yes, I agree. That is the heart of the message.