Is Understanding the Molecular Basis of Cancer a Prerequisite for its Treatment?

This web page is designed to provide information regarding the treatment of cancer to the general public.  Although some of the information contained in the page requires a scientific background, the majority can easily be understood by someone with little to no background in the sciences. This page was designed with the intent that anyone with an interest in the treatment of cancer could easily understand what was presented. The treatment of cancer is a topic that has broad public appeal and is not necessarily a subject that interests only the scientific community.  

Is understanding the molecular basis of cancer necessary for the treatment of the disease? A close look at current methods of treatment seem to indicate that this is not the case. The current methods for the treatment of cancer can loosely be divided into five categories: surgery (by far the most common treatment), radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immunological methods. These are described in greater detail throughout this site. Each method requires a different level of understanding of the disease and it's molecular roots. Our stand, however, is that those methods that have been developed using an understanding of molecular basis of the disease are potentially much more beneficial. They target cancer cells much more specifically than do non-molecular methods, and they frequently have fewer side effects.  

The research method used to develop these treatments can also be broken down into two categories: reductive and non-reductive methods. Reductivism is a theory of scientific research that states that even the most complex processes can be explained by breaking them down into their simplest reactions. In cancer research, this would take on the form of undesstanding the molecular mechanisms of the disease. Nonreductive methods of research are primarily founded by observations of widespread trends. For example, it may be observed that certain vitamins reduce the occurence of cancer. A non-reductive treatment would then be to recommend higher doses of this vitamin, assuming that if the connection is there, it is not necessary to undestand the mechanism by which it occurs. The benefits of non-reductive reasoning are that they are a much faster way of providing solutions to some types of problems, and in general they are much less expensive. However, the authors of this web site feel that while non-reductive -- and non-molecular -- method of research may provide adequate temporary solutions, in the long run cancer patients would benefit much more from the undertanding of the disease that reductive -- molecular -- research could provide. 
  

Comments and suggestions should be sent to mandys@udel.edu