“One Size Fits All” Cancer Drugs

For a drug candidate to receive serious consideration for drug company funding, it has to fit a certain business model. Currently, the preferred model is a pill or liquid that can be injected into the patient. These drugs tend to have a single pathway of action against the cancer cell. Mutations in the tumor cell can quickly render the drug useless. If this is the case, why do companies continue down this road to failure? Basically, these business models are the only ones they know. These types of drugs fit into an established system of production, shipping, storage, administration, and billing. This model works well for simple diseases, but cancer is unique in that no two patients with the same type of cancer are alike. We can even demonstrate that in a melanoma patient, the tumors on their legs are genetically different than the ones on their back. It’s like having 100 different kinds of crabgrass weed growing on your lawn. By the time you have tried five different weed killers, you lawn is dead from the accumulated toxins.