• Question: what is the most harmful cancer

    Asked by elsa to Angela, Claire, Ian, Robert, Sarah on 17 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sarah Harris

      Sarah Harris answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      Cancers without a proper treatment and very aggressive cancers are the most harmful, although none of them are pleasant. Pancreatic cancer is particularly nasty though – about 95% of people who have it die within 5 years, which is higher than most other types.

      there are lots of career that investigate cancer, if you’re interested in doing that when you leave school – for example cellular biologists, radiologists and oncologists.

    • Photo: Angela Stokes

      Angela Stokes answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      Hi chlo
      Thats difficult to answer. Obviously any cancer that has spread a long way is usually fatal, but there are also some very aggressive cancers that grow very quickly and often can’t be stopped even though they have been caught early and treated. Then there are cancers that we have no treatment for because its very rare and so we have to just do a bit of trial and error.

      Also your own body’s ability to fight the disease comes into play – for example a family member of mine got cancer when he was 39 and it had spread to one of his kidneys, his brain, his spleen and he had a spot in his lungs, the doctors told him they would treat him, but warned that he might only have six weeks to live. That person survived and will be 71 in January and has been clear of cancer for over 30 years, whereas he met other people in the hospital with similar disease and treatment who didnt make it.

      So there is no ‘most harmful’ cancer – they are all dangerous.

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