Before cancer
The theme we have developed in the main pages of this issue is not sweet. Cancer is the second most fatal disease in Euskal Herria and in Europe in general. It is a malignant disease. Its biological characteristics give it a great capacity for growth, expansion and - even surpassed - regeneration. And the fact that both possible origins and types are so numerous, on the other hand, is a great complexity and difficulty in understanding and curing cancer. In fact, today doctors and researchers talk about cancer and not cancer, so varied and at the same time individual.
Therefore, without losing sight of the general level, in recent years research and clinical practice have been aimed at developing strategies adapted to cancer and the person, obtaining results that have allowed to reduce mortality and improve the quality of life of patients. This is because, in addition to increasing the effectiveness of treatments, the patient's hospital stays have been significantly reduced, as well as the aggressiveness and side effects of treatments.
Oncologist Arrate Plazaola values improving patient quality of life as an advance in efficiency. And he is right, because often, because of the hardness of treatment, it is also one of the malignant aspects of cancer. Although the ultimate goal is to cure, it is also essential that the patient be as soft as possible before cancer.
We, facing cancer, wanted to bring the sweetest face it can offer and we have looked at the advances in treatments. Before starting a note, as important as being optimistic is not creating false expectations: we have only received hospital treatments and strategies in advanced clinical phases, that is, they are about to reach patients or they can reach a relatively short term.
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