Approaching the Ceiling of Cancer Treatment?

Despite breakthroughs in targeted therapy and immunotherapy, cancer remains the leading cause of death.

• Why are metastatic cancers still so difficult to cure?

• Are we reaching the limits of what modern treatments can achieve?

• What is the most practical path to defeat cancer?

This blog explores these key questions.

We have dreamed of discovering a “magic cancer pill” as powerful as antibiotics are against bacterial infections.

Yet despite enormous advances in targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and precision medicine, once cancer spreads (metastasizes), it often becomes resistant to cure. Survival has improved for some patients, but the overall picture shows how difficult it remains to cure advanced cancer.

Lung Cancer: Over 100 Drugs, Limited Survival Gains

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved more than 100 drugs for lung cancer, including targeted drugs and immunotherapies. These treatments have changed care and extended survival for some patients. Still, metastatic lung cancer claims more lives than any other malignancy worldwide. Five-year survival of metastatic lung cancer has only crept up from 4% in the 1990s to about 9% today.

In contrast, early-stage, localized lung cancers are often curable with minimally invasive surgery.

Poor Outcomes for Metastatic Cancer

Most metastatic solid tumors remain resistant to treatment. Here are representative cancer types:

•                Pancreatic cancer remains among the deadliest, with a five-year survival rate of just 3% for metastatic disease, a figure unchanged for decades. Modern combination chemotherapy has extended median survival from 4–6 months to about 11 months, but the dense fibrotic tissue around tumors blocks drug penetration, and the immunosuppressive tumor environment undermines even advanced immunotherapies.

•                Liver cancer has seen modest progress. Drugs such as sorafenib, lenvatinib, and immunotherapy combinations have doubled median survival from six months to 15 months. Yet the five-year survival rate remains below 5%.

•                Stomach cancer fares little better. Five-year survival has stayed under 7% for three decades, as most patients are diagnosed late, when curative options are scarce.

Treatment Success in Few Cancer Types

Despite discouraging outcomes for metastatic cancers, advanced treatments have proven highly effective in certain types, including blood cancers, melanoma, thyroid cancer, and testicular cancer. Blood cancers have shown remarkable progress, with pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia now achieving cure rates above 80% and CAR-T cell therapy delivering durable remissions. Melanoma benefits from immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies that enable long-term survival for many patients. Thyroid and testicular cancers have some of the highest survival rates, while breast and prostate cancers have steadily improved outcomes via early detection and treatment.

Are We Near the Ceiling of Treatment?

Incremental advances will continue, but the truth remains: cures for metastatic cancer are not on the immediate horizon. Even the most aggressive regimens often add months, not years, of life. Studies show that intensive treatment near the end of life rarely improves outcomes.

Patients today often live longer and with better quality of life than before, but a true cure for most advanced cancers still is out of reach. It is reasonable to believe that we may be nearing the limits of what drugs and therapies can achieve against metastatic cancer, as explained below:

Breakthroughs and Their Limits. Recent innovations have been impressive, but their impact is constrained:

•                Immunotherapy has revolutionized melanoma and certain lung cancers, yet many patients do not respond or relapse after remission.

•                Targeted therapies can produce dramatic responses, but resistance almost always develops.

•                Personalized medicine, using genomic profiling and liquid biopsies, tailors therapy but cannot overcome tumor heterogeneity.

•                Combination therapies prolong survival but rarely achieve cures, and toxicity often limits their use.

Why Is Metastatic Cancer So Hard to Cure?

Progress is hampered by fundamental barriers:

•                Tumor diversity—cancers vary widely, even within the same individuals.

•                Drug resistance—tumors evolve to bypass therapies.

•                Immune evasion—cancers disable or hide from the immune system.

•                Dormancy—microscopic disease can lie hidden for years before reemerging.

•                Toxicity—intensifying treatment often harms patients as much as it helps.

•                Few new targets—even with powerful tools like genomics, proteomics, and epigenetics, only a limited number of actionable targets emerge.

The Call for AI-Powered Early Detection and Prevention

With no cure in sight, the most effective strategy to defeat cancer lies in better early detection and prevention, which is explored in the recent books by Dr. Stanley SY Chen:

•                The Path To Defeat Cancer: Revolutionary AI-Powered Early Detection link: Cutting-edge systemic early cancer detection throughout the whole body via blood multi-cancer early detection (MCED) ctDNA test and MRI scan.

•                Prevent Cancer with Anti-Aging: Revitalize Immunity and Alleviate Inflammation link

By leveraging AI, MCED tests, and whole-body MRI imaging, combined with prevention strategies to strengthen immunity and reduce inflammation, we can shift from ineffective late-stage treatment to proactive early detection and prevention to defeat cancer.