Hasiera »   Lekukoak »   “Lehen minbizia heriotza zen; orain, berriz, minbizi-mota batzuk kroniko bihurtzea lortu dugu”

“Before cancer was death and now we have got some types of cancer to be chronic”

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Arrate Plazaola, like others, pointed out that the questions are difficult for him, both at the time of receiving the invitation to witness (by phone) and before starting to answer the questions (at his office in Onkologikoa). However, he has accepted the invitation before anyone else and has responded immediately to the questions. And he has certainly given clear and brief answers.

What has surprised, altered or fascinated you the most since you started working?

What has most influenced my career has been to prove that some cancers have become chronic. If cancer was a direct death before, there was no solution, now we have got some types of cancer to be chronic. That is, prognosis is not always necessarily bad, many patients go ahead and can continue their lives more or less before cancer. We can't heal at all, but we can be chronic.

When I started with breast cancer, in the late 1970s, we didn't distinguish the types, we thought they were all the same. However, for about 15 years we know that breast cancers are 6-7 and each has its treatment. In addition, chemotherapy is often not needed. Current treatments are much more precise and gentle: monoclonal antibodies, targeted therapies... And all this has brought us genetics: advances in genetics have allowed us to improve cancer knowledge and therapies.

What would you like to witness the revolution or the discovery in your career?

Because all types of cancer become chronic or even more can be cured. I find it impossible to get a cancer vaccine, since in the genesis of cancer there is not a single cause, there are many factors that influence. And you can't cope with everyone with a single vaccine. Would it be wonderful, eh? But I don't think it's possible.

However, the more they are known, the more they can be done in prevention, developing more accurate and effective treatments. Have the way to cure all types of cancers or, if not cured, be under control, as with AIDS. That would be my dream or my hope.