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Some Reasons Why Cancer Is So Hard To Kill

First off, it isn’t a disease.

A disease is something that can be carried and spread. A foreign agent of some kind, something that lives in the human body and slowly kills off its host in the process of ensuring its own survival. Whether by spreading toxins in the course of its growth, or by hijacking and diverting the body’s cells and resources to its own ends, disease is some kind of foreign invader, one that hurts the body. Genetic disease is not a foreign invader, per se, but it is still something that can be carried and spread.

Cancer is not. Cancer spreads, yes, but not across carriers. It spreads throughout the body. Nor is it something that is carried. It is simply a matter of the body’s own cells turning rebellious against it, hardly a foreign agent of any kind.

As such, we cannot simply kill it off with antibiotics or such like, because we would need something that kills off the body’s own cells in order to destroy cancer. Hence the need for chemo. Further, antibiotics work by supporting the body in its attacks against the disease, overwhelming the virus or bacteria and wiping it out. Here the situation is a bit different, as the body still treats cancer like part of its own, helping to shield it against treatment and aiding in its regrowth. This is one reason why chemo leaves the body so worn out, because it also needs to get past the body’s defenses to when trying to kill cancer.

Aside from this, cancer is able to create stem cells that create copies of itself from just one or two hidden cells, anywhere in the body. This is the cause for most recurring cancers. Also, the body evolves, and so does cancer. Which is why recurring cancer is so much more deadly, because it can better defend itself against chemo. As can your body, making it extremely difficult to penetrate.

These are just some of the reasons that cancer is such a terrible illness, because it is as well equipped to survive treatment as you are.