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I'm often asked whether there's a hidden cure for #cancer being suppressed. A common narrative is that a cancer cure would ruin the profits of "big pharma", and so they'd use their power to suppress it. Certainly it's a popular belief - but it's wrong. Here's why: THREAD (1/10) 
So what is cancer? It's an entire class of diseases, with over 200 known types. Cancer can stem from virtually any cells type, with hugely varied prognosis & treatment options. What unifies all cancers is that they are the result of unregulated cell division (2/10)
It's even more complex too - cancers arise from mutations in our own cells. Every cancer is unique as the person who has it. This is a stark contrast to things like viruses and bacteria, which have some specific genetic fingerprint we can seek out - cancer IS us (3/10)
This is why there's no "magic bullet" for cancer - each type unique as the patient, and respond differently to treatment. That's why we have lots of different treatment approaches ; radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery, immunotherapy. Complexity is why there's no easy cure. (4/10)
Let's pretend there was a secret cure anyway. And let's assume pharma companies decide to suppress it. Could they? It'd take 100000s of corrupt scientists & doctors, who couldn't give a damn about their loved ones. As I wrote for @IrishTimes before (5/n) irishtimes.com/opinion/the-vu…
This I've looked at academically before. Such huge conspiracies would rapidly be doomed to failure because people mess up. And that's before you even consider how much money a cure for cancer would generate, when ~50% of us get it in our lifetime! (6/10) journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
Also, idea pharma companies can't make money from 'natural' cures total nonsense. Many drugs we use today derived from substances found in nature. Isolating active ingredient / commercializing it what pharma companies do! See thread by @HislopMD (7/10)
Please, be dubious of anyone promoting secret cancer cures of "kancer kures" (they actually call them that!) as this snake-oil can kill. One study found patients who explored alternative medicine twice as likely to die (8/10) dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaon…
Critically, the good news is that we are making inroads - survival for cancer has never been better. We constantly make new discoveries leading to new preventions, cures, and treatments for cancer. There's an entire army of us at this, learning more every day. (9/10)
Hopefully this short thread is useful; snake-oil, fake cancer cures, and propagation of dangerous falsehoods are something I explore in depth in my upcoming book, The Irrational Ape - you can read about here if you're interested in knowing more! (10/10)
