How could Steve Jobs have died from cancer?
 

Serious question.
I find it incredible to believe that with all the resources, the most advanced cancer research and treatment available to him, that they could do nothing to save his life.

My brother also died of melanoma about a year ago, and he was going thru treatments at at a huge Texas cancer research hospital for a while, which is known as one of the premiere cancer treatment facilities in the U.S.

Yet in the end, even though they originally got it in time, they didn't get it all and it came back with a vengeance and killed him quickly.

And he had money, best doctors etc. Did no good.

So does this mean that alot of cancer research is still a shot in the dark, even with the best minds on it, or does it really mean that when your number is up there is no escaping death no matter what you do?

good question...sorry to hear about your brother.

The issue is being able to find it all, and what to do about it depending on where it is.
They have new methods of approaching the issues now, i suspect in 10-15 years, most things will be cured fairly easily. Then we can worry about how to feed everyone for real.

I think pancreatic cancer is something that kills real quick. He did buy a lot more time relatively speaking than most with this type of cancer.

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in many cases cancer treatments will extend your life for awhile, not rid you of the disease perminately... cancer is very complex ...

The truth is that any ordinary person who had been diagnosed with that sort of cancer wouldn't have lived the extra 7 years he did.

And he did use his resources to get on multiple waiting lists for his liver transplant.

So that is as good as it gets.

His time was up and may he rest in peace. He changed the world and worked hard, maybe a bit to much, who knows...

A lot depends on the stage at when its caught. My mother in law had a lymph node cancer which is known to be very rare, and pretty nasty -- but she got to the doctor as soon as weird stuff started happening to her body. They carpet bombed it with chemo and she's been cancer free for over a year.

She was told that if she had waited for a month to visit the doctor, she would have been dead in about 6 months.

Obviously not, since almost all cancers are treatable and mortality rates continue to dramatically decline and drugs and treatment options continue to rapidly improve.

Keep believing that bullshit if it helps ya sleep better.

He didn't do anything special to get his liver. the "list" isn't sorted by first come, first served. It is by expected time to die without one and even if 40 people are ahead of you, they must have the same blood type as the donor.

I appreciate the answers everyone, and I thought they would be as varied as they are.

balls 95%

pancreas 3%

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/can...l/latestrates/

What I had heard is that he was able to get on the list in all of the USA transplant regions. And this isn't cheap as he would have to become an active patient in each region, which means medical and hospital fees in each.


http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/members/regions.asp

If I am not mistaken, this is from experience correct?

Because he was a fucking idiot woo-monger who went to a naturopath and went on a diet for 9 months letting the cancer grow instead of getting it cut the fuck out. The type of pancreatic cancer he had was the "good' kind that can be operated on and he should have lived much longer given how early they caught it. Darwin Award nominee.

pancreatic cancer is almost a DEATH sentence.

My mother died from it. She died the day after we brought her to the hospital after she experienced pain in her gut.

Steve Jobs' extra years after diagnosis was, in hindsight, a gift. The prognosis for most pancreatic cancer is not very good.

Only if he had health insurance! What a tragedy.

Most "normal" pancreatic cancer is, it's literally the WORST cancer.. however Job's had a very rare type - islet cell neuroendocrine - with a 94% survivability rate at 5yrs.

We are getting closer, but your statement is still way off the mark and far too general.

Pretty simple pancreatic cancer has a 5% life expectancy after 5 years. Just because we can TREAT cancer doesn't mean it's CURED.

I had a brother die from testicular cancer.
I had a sister die from breast cancer.
My father died of brain cancer.
My mother died from stomach cancer.

All were dead within a year of diagnosis despite aggressive treatment. Treatment that was expensive, painful and humiliating. The cancer just spread and spread. Like Gator stated; cancer can be treated not cured.

You also have to ask if the extra time is even worth the pain, price and self deception/false hope that is part of treatment.
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yes, in 2000 my numbers 9 & 22 chromosones switched places and i got ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia...good news is that im still here to talk about it...

here it is ,some hope
 

My dad died of bowl cancer and it is a horrible to watch a fit healthy person go down hill so quickly. I think one of the main things which help to get rid of it is to catch it very early.

my father had lung cancer (hello to all smokers), they took out part of his lung. usually they say if you are cancer free for 5 years it's cured. Exactly 5 years later it came back and he was dead within a few months.

Which means he could be in the other 6%. Why is that so hard to "believe" for the OP?


94% != 100%.

You still get the impression that diagnosis is difficult..... doctors still dont seem well trained.

The other problem is that none of the tests seem to indicate cancer. Blood tests, urine tests - none of the tests actually necessarily work.

NOT TRUE, this shit people are saying about him not getting operated on is FALSE.

People need to actually look up this info before spouting off like the guy killed himself!

7 years surviving after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is almost amazing.

Guess he wasn't inmortal like his fans claimed ...

the cancer story begins at about 10 minutes in

about 11:20 his words are "I had the surgery..."

http://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc

info, it's out there.

A close family member of mine died from pancreatic cancer also... it took them over 6 months to even find it, they just kept telling him it was his diabetes... by the time they discovered it he also had this same type they could operate on, but he was already too ill to make it through a surgery and died 60 days later. I've seem numerous cancer deaths, but never the decline of a human being so brutal as this pancreatic cancer. It is the absolute worst cancer you can suffer and die from.

Anyone who has ever watched someone die from this surely would not be complaining that the guy let himself die. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE

Sorry to hear that :(
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me" - Steve Jobs

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq...9917o1_500.png

No, you are WRONG. I did NOT say he didn't get an operation. I said he DIETED INSTEAD for nine months and let the cancer grow. He eventually got surgery after the woo didn't work. surviving 7 years with HIS TYPE of pancreatic cancer is NOT AMAZING. The median survival is TEN YEARS. You're misinformed.

Life will always kick you in the nuts one way or another.I'm truly thankful I haven't experienced it ...yet

Cancer is a beast. Took a member of my family too.

this just proves that all the $$ in the world can't buy good health...