Don't believe they've figured that part out yet. And not everyone infected with HPV develops some form of cancer. But in the end does it really matter the the patient what the process is from HPV infection to tumor?
I doubt that "cures" will be found for any, but all will become more and more manageable.
AIDS / HIV is actually pretty well in check already. It's now almost possible to live with it into old age until something else takes out the person that's been infected just like with syphilis. There's actually gay males these days that look on contracting HIV as a badge of honor now that there are those effective drugs to keep it in check. Biggest problem is ignorance as to the transmission of it and how to prevent that transmission, particularly in Africa. (
Cancer is not one malady, it's many. The current thinking is that every case is unique in and of itself. If that's the case it's going to be tough to ever manage some types of aggressive and fast growing cancers like pancreatic and glioblastomas, let alone find a cure.
This post was edited by Salt and Red Pepper at October 15, 2017 5:07 AM MDT
Cancer has no morals and can choose at random and living creature no matter what age they are.....where as AIDS is preventable if you refuse to sleep around......
IV drug users that share needles are still a major vector for HIV / AIDS.
In Africa diseases that are normally treated with oral antibiotics were treated with injectables. Medical personnel didn't always have all the needed supplies (sufficient numbers of disposable needles/syringes) and often re-used them; happened a LOT before they figured that one out. But the practice still continues due to shortages.
Cancer is not an exception to some rule. No disease has morals.
Even AIDS / HIV has vectors other than intimate contact. Any activity that allows for the exchange of body fluids is a potential risk. That includes IV drug use and medical procedures. My one kid is a nurse and accidentally "stuck" themselves with the same needle after injecting a patient with HIV (scary as hell). (The other kid was working with AIDS / HIV patients in Africa at the time, though it would be that one that would have the close call.) Dodged a bullet on that one (tested negative afterwards) but other medical personnel have not been that lucky.
Yeah, my kid noted that after working with, and actually testing a LOT of sex workers (among other members of the populations) in South Africa and Lesotho. It was part of wrapping up some major studies of AIDS / HIV being carried out over there by one of the USA's leading universities that has both very well respected medical and very well respected public health programs. (Something that I didn't ask about is if those with apparent immunity can be still be carriers like Typhoid Mary was with typhoid fever.)
But anyhow, there's a subset of every population that will be immune to any given disease, no matter what that disease happens to be. (If that wasn't the case we probably wouldn't be here anymore.) I remember reading a while back (probably 25 or 30-years ago when Dr. Robert Gallo was still taking credit for its discovery at NIH and the poor Canadian airline steward was being "credited" as being the 0 vector, which has since been dis-proven) that a subset of gay men in the US were apparently immune (or damn lucky). There was a theory floated then that people that had natural immunity to the Bubonic Plague also enjoyed immunity to the AIDS / HIV virus. Don't know if that was ever confirmed though. And don't forget that all viruses mutate, AIDS being one that does so frequently, so that apparent immunity could go away tomorrow.
Now something that you may not know . . . the world of AIDS / HIV research took a MAJOR hit when Malaysia Airlines flight 17 went down over the Ukraine. There were a number of well respected AIDS / HIV researchers on board that flight that were on their way to (or maybe they were returning from, don't remember) a conference on that disease. Very sad.
Don't even bring those richardheads up. That's one of the leading reasons why healthcare is soooooo expensive. Big Pharma is only interested in "maintenance" treatments (repeating sales) not in cures. And even when a cure pops up (like for Hep C) they make the treatment sooooo expensive, because of all that taxpayer money that they had to spend to research it (one of the Hep C treatments was researched and developed at Johns Hopkins University). I believe that the current cost for Hep C treatment in the States is around $300.000.
Anyhow, back to Africa . . . did you know that African Shaman actually knew how smallpox was transmitted and would sometimes start an outbreak to drum up business? And all those laureates for Edward Jenner . . . no. Mothers in the middle east knew how to vaccinate their children against smallpox long before Jenner was a gleam in his father's eye.
I know that smallpox is slightly off topic but if you have any interest in the subject of mass immunology from a public health point-of-view there's a great book floating around out the on how smallpox was eradicated "in the wild". My kid tells me that the author is pretty cool too.
myonemaster 