Do We Need to Stop Talking about 'Curing' Cancer?

In 1971, Richard Nixon declared war on cancer. Five decades and billions of dollars later, cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States. But promising advances in immunotherapy and other cutting-edge research, plus efforts like Joe Biden's "cancer moonshot," have reinvigorated the battle and raised new hopes. Now the entire way we look at cancer is changing from monolithic condition to a wide range of different diseases requiring different approaches.

Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, fighting cancer meant using targeted therapies to attempt to wipe out compromised cells. But today iconoclastic cancer researchers are taking a different approach: What if, they ask, the human body is more like an ecosystem? What if cancer cells are active members within that habitat? Billions of years of evolution have endowed ecosystems with ways of remaining healthy despite predators, exploiters, cheaters and deadbeats. If researchers apply predictable ecological management principles to cancer treatment, we might reframe the disease in a way that leads to effective new treatments instead of an ever unattainable cure.

Join Future Tense in Washington, D.C., as we gather the experts who are reassessing how we understand, prevent and treat cancer. 

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate , New America and Arizona State University. 

Follow the conversation online using #FTCancer and following @FutureTenseNow. 

Agenda:

The Ecology of Cancer 
noon–12:10 p.m.

• Athena Aktipis: assistant professor, Psychology Department, Arizona State University; co-founder, International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer; @AthenaAktipis

Learning from the Ailments of Our Ancestors
12:10–12:40 p.m.

• Kate Hunt: bioarchaeologist, 106 Group 
• Moderator, Kathryn Bowers: co-author, "Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health;" Future Tense fellow, New America; @KathrynSBowers 

Notes on a Small Thing
12:40–12:55 p.m.

• Jacob Brogan: journalist and critic; @Jacob_Brogan

Changing the Way We Think about Beating Cancer
12:55–1:45 p.m.

• Athena Aktipis: assistant professor, Psychology Department, Arizona State University; co-founder, International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer; @AthenaAktipis
• Dr. Donna Marie Manasseh: director of breast surgery, Maimonides Breast Cancer Center 
• Dr. David Reese: senior vice president of translational sciences and discovery research (interim), Amgen 
• Dr. Joshua Schiffman: professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah; investigator, Huntsman Cancer Institute 
• Moderator, William Saletan: national correspondent, Slate; @saletan