Tiresias and The War on Cancer

"It is difficult to remain Imperator in the presence of a physician."

Tiberius Caesar, Second Emperor of Rome

My friends,

As the Divine Tiberius observed two thousand years ago, health is everything and the threat to health trumps everything else. Today it is still difficult to remain calm in the presence of the physician. It is impossible to remain yourself in the presence of cancer. It is also impossible to remain calm in the presence of the threat of cancer. Cancer changes everything. But we are all under the threat of cancer. The lifetime risk of cancer is approximately 50%. Each of us is a coin toss from cancer.

The war on cancer is now 50 years old, declared by Richard Nixon 1971. It was thought that the application of America's great wealth and great scientific and industrial power, coming just after the victory in the space race with the landing on the moon, a cure of cancer a cure of cancer could be achieved as quickly, certainly no more than 20 to 30 years. Fifty years and hundreds of billions of dollars and yours and mine risk of dying of cancer is higher. Much of the monies spent on the war on cancer has made little difference. The mortality of cancer, after a diagnosis of cancer, by most measures, has dropped. However, my friends, it's actually only dropped by 5%. The risk, the lifetime risk for cancer is increasing. The lifetime risk of dying from cancer has also increased. This is because other causes of death, current panic not with-standing, have dramatically decreased. Cancer remains the Hard Problem, despite the “weekly breakthroughs” breathlessly touted by every media. With ageing and the decrease in other previously most common causes of death and even the slight drop in mortality of some cancers, the consequent increase in cancer rates, the absolute lifetime risk of death from cancer is of course increasing.

Diagnosis and treatment of cancer is the great medical issue for this century. This is what Optiscan is all about. We the Optiscan shareholders are in the right space and at the right time. It is only a matter of right strategy, and right tactics, and a little time.