Reporters might be cynical and suspicious, rightly forcing scientists to make their cases. But the best that they can then hope for is a story that states a possibility of enormous potential, followed, at turns, by disclaimers, qualifiers, and quotes of awe and admiration. Cancer is not one disease but many. There are cancers that are curable, and others that are not. Childhood leukemia, for instance, which a generation ago was tantamount to a death sentence, is today survived three quarters of the time.
Cancer can begin in mystery and vanish just as mysteriously.
And that is not remotely the case. I believe it can. Cancer is more than 100 diseases that vary widely in their character and potential treatment. To allow the idea of cancer's multiple forms and threats to inform a piece is to alter the context in which cancer stories are broken and told. But we can offer an insight.