KEY POINTS:
The fight against cancer, both for individuals and the medical profession, can seem overwhelming.
Much is known about the various forms of the disease but this understanding co-exists with known unknowns and unknown unknowns that render trite the search for any one cure.
This week, the Herald has highlighted some of the latest research for six of the most prevalent cancers and examined possible treatments. The articles have been timed to mark the 50th anniversary of the Auckland Cancer Society's research centre and to help raise funds for its search for medical treatments.
Work being done by the Auckland centre and experts at the Malaghan Institute in Wellington and Otago University is making profound differences to cancer patients' lives. Eight drugs have progressed to clinical trial from the Auckland centre, evidence of outstanding progress. The Cancer: the New Frontier series ends today by examining advances in the treatment of prostate cancer and with writer Carroll du Chateau's story of one woman benefiting from a home-grown drug, DMXAA. What is clear is that the insight shown in the 1950s to focus a laboratory at the end of the world on cancer drug treatments is paying off.
This newspaper was involved in the original fundraising for the society, which led to the research centre's establishment. We are happy, half a century on, to be involved again on behalf of the many thousands of our readers and their families who are affected by the disease each year.
Thank you to all readers who have responded to the research appeal in the past week. We will continue to seek reader support for the next generations of researchers and patients.
A donation to this year's Christmas charity appeal is a gift worth giving.
