I'm probably not more knowledgeable, but from my understanding, most (all?) cancers are related in that they start as a single mutated cell which replicates in an aggressive way which leads to problems / death.
Since it's a mutated cell, I can imagine extracting DNA from the cancerous area, and doing a diff against your "normal" DNA from elsewhere in your body. This would enable you to identify the difference / unique signature of the cancerous cells, kind of how a software antivirus looks for binary patterns in things that it scans. A mechanism like CRISPR could then be used to effectively target all instances of the mutated DNA / cells in your body, effectively wiping it out.
I suspect this is ridiculously hand-wavy and oversimplified, but something like this might just be viable in our lifetimes.
I think a very interesting research area is to find the core (original, required) mutations involved in a cancer (the current understanding is that normally multiple mutations are required, occurring in a particular progression).
> If a cell makes a mistake in copying its DNA during the process of division, p53 stops it in its tracks, summoning a repair team before allowing the cell to carry on dividing. If the mistake is irreparable and the rogue cell threatens to grow out of control, p53 commands the cell to commit suicide. Cancer cannot develop unless p53 itself is damaged or prevented from functioning normally.
Since it's a mutated cell, I can imagine extracting DNA from the cancerous area, and doing a diff against your "normal" DNA from elsewhere in your body. This would enable you to identify the difference / unique signature of the cancerous cells, kind of how a software antivirus looks for binary patterns in things that it scans. A mechanism like CRISPR could then be used to effectively target all instances of the mutated DNA / cells in your body, effectively wiping it out.
I suspect this is ridiculously hand-wavy and oversimplified, but something like this might just be viable in our lifetimes.