We’re going to cure cancer in our lifetime.” It’s a rallying cry at every charity event, every fundraiser, every race. But what does that actually mean?
Dr. Sonal Gandhi, a medical oncologist, joins Ditch the Labcoat to break down what most people don’t understand: we already cure cancer. All the time. Early stage cancers like breast, colon, and skin cancer caught in time have cure rates approaching 90 to 100 percent.
The challenge is stage four cancer. Metastatic disease. Cancer that has spread to other organs. And even there, the conversation is shifting. Cancer is increasingly becoming a chronic illness. People are living longer with it, sometimes dying with it rather than from it, just like they do with heart disease or diabetes.
Dr. Gandhi walks through what “curing cancer” really means, how treatment has evolved beyond chemotherapy into targeted therapies and immunotherapy, and why prevention matters. Up to 40 percent of cancers are related to modifiable lifestyle factors: smoking, alcohol, obesity, lack of exercise. But even doing everything right doesn’t guarantee you won’t get cancer. Age is the number one risk factor, and we can’t modify that.
She also challenges the guilt people carry when they’re diagnosed and reframes the fear around the “C word.” Maybe it’s time to pull cancer back into the middle with the menu of other chronic illnesses we manage, not cure.
If you’ve ever wondered what “curing cancer” actually means, why some cancers are more treatable than others, or what you can do to reduce your risk, this episode will reframe how you think about one of medicine’s most feared diagnoses.
