06/21/2026
Why is cancer more likely treatable rather than curable?
Cancer is often more treatable than curable because cancer cells can be very difficult to eliminate completely.
Here are a few reasons why:
🔬 Cancer cells can hide. Even when scans show no evidence of disease, tiny numbers of cancer cells may remain in the body and be too small to detect.
🧬 Cancer cells change over time. They can develop new mutations that help them survive treatment, making them harder to eradicate completely.
🌱 Cancer can spread. If cancer cells travel to other parts of the body (metastasize), it becomes much more challenging to remove every cancer cell.
💊 Treatment can control disease. Many modern therapies can shrink tumors, stop cancer growth, and help people live long, healthy lives, even if some cancer cells remain.
For diseases like Multiple myeloma, treatment often aims to achieve remission, meaning there are no signs of active disease or the disease is well controlled. Some people remain in remission for many years, but because myeloma cells can persist at very low levels, the disease may return later.
