Cancer is one of the most fear-producing diagnosis. What makes it so scary is that there are no guarantees of complete healing.
For decades, the best way to combat this disease is with research. Receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2020 is vastly different from receiving one in, say, 1970. Research has done a great deal to uncover lots of treatments and ideas to help make this disease less terrifying. So, let’s take a look at how crucial cancer research is, and how things have changed over the years.
Improved treatment options
Companies are always looking for new ways to treat this terrible disease. In the past, chemotherapy was the main option. It’s still used to this day, but it comes with a lot of side effects, meaning the road to recovery is a long one. Then, there was radiation therapy using x-rays, but this obviously exposed the body to high levels of radiation. Nowadays, there are more advanced and modern cancer treatment options, like proton therapy. Even the traditional treatments have undergone tweaks to make them more effective. Ultimately, it allows for more treatment options for cancer patients. Research in this field is ongoing, and the side effects one experiences are not as severe as they once were.
A dramatic drop in the death rate
Rewind 30 or 40 years ago and cancer was seen as a death sentence. This sounds like a harsh way of putting it, but it’s how people viewed the disease. The chances of survival were very minimal. Thankfully, research has changed this. One of the latest cancer reports back in 2014 showed that some of the top cancers had a drop in death rates by around a third. The report looked at deaths over 20 years and found that some cancers dropped by as much as 34%. These are incredible figures that everyone is hoping to see a drop even further with more research.
More knowledge of cancer prevention
Finally, cancer research has provided more knowledge on how to prevent or reduce your chances of developing cancer. One of the reasons death rates were so high is that people followed really bad habits all the time. Over the years, research has shown us how to stay healthy and lower your chances of getting cancer. This involves following the right diets, staying fit, and avoiding any bad habits – like smoking or going on sunbeds. Not only that but detecting cancer is far more effective than it used to be. As such, doctors can fight this disease in its infancy before it begins to grow and spread.
It’s clear that cancer research is mightily important as we fight this horrible disease. As the year’s progress, it’s hoped that research can someday lead us to a cure that no longer makes this such a feared health problem.