Cancer is now the second leading cause of death, and all Americans of all political persuasions would welcome a reduction in the toll it takes on life and health. First, our goal should not, and cannot be to wipe out all cancer.
Cancer is a disease of aging.
Indeed, with the precipitous decline of heart disease we are witnessing, it is likely that cancer soon will be the leading cause of death in America. Given the inevitable reality of human mortality, something has to be the leading cause of death. We know that overexposure to sunlight is a major cause of the most deadly type of skin cancer, melanoma. We know, for example, that the drug tamoxifen reduces the probability of breast cancer in high risk women. Currently there are trials underway testing new arthritis-pain drugs to see if they will prevent colon polyps and colon cancer.