Pointing fingers does not work – in everyday life or in cancer treatment

We all know how the ritual of pointing fingers starts after a somewhat-preventable disaster strikes. However, identifying the culprits does not reverse the disaster.

In the past 20 years or so, “pointing fingers” has also been our major strategy against cancer. The prevalent notion is that we can deal with cancer by pointing out at the mutations that contribute to abnormal cell development. The eureka moment goes like this “AH, IT IS THE MUTATION IN THE GENES X, Y, and/or Z that causes cancer.” This realization is followed by the design of a compound against the mutant X, Y or Z products. Does it work? To be fair, the strategy works sometimes. In most cases, however, the strategy yields return only for the drug company. Why?

1. The approach is this of management of the disease, but not cure of the disease (usually).

2. Each cancer patient has a unique combination of gene mutations causing cancer.

3. With time, each cancer changes its mutation profile (this is known as the "evolution" of cancer). If at the beginning of the treatment the mutations are X, Y, and Z, by the end of the treatment there could be newly identified mutations Z, W, and D. The outcome? The patient dies, the pharmaceutical company profits, and the patient’s family might be financially broke.

What is wrong with this picture? 

Everything!

Before any disaster strikes and before we reach the stage of pointing fingers, there is a period, when the potential for a disaster could be evaluated and if high, could be addressed.

Cancer is not different from other disasters. There are risk factors we can eliminate and signals that we can detect BEFORE CANCER STRIKES.

P.S. As I was writing this post, it was confirmed that in the next 4 years $240 million tax payers money will be spent on sequencing 200,000 human genomes. The goal is to identify genes that modulate our risk of diabetes, heart disease, and autism.  I am still waiting to hear about an anti-obesity program funded as generously as this sequencing project. Perhaps, decreasing obesity makes no sense, since we already know that obesity is the major cause of all rampant chronic conditions in this country, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer?