Breakthrough Cancer Therapies Turn Many Deadly Tumors Into Treatable Diseases

Humanity has moved significantly closer to overcoming cancer, according to Professor Alexander Seryakov, MD, PhD, Director of the Oncology Center at SM-Clinic. He says that over the past 10-15 years, many forms of cancer have evolved from a fatal diagnosis into chronic conditions or diseases that can be completely cured.

Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cancer_Institute by Dr. Cecil Fox, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

Cancerous cells

Cancer Care Has Undergone a Revolution

"Oncology has experienced a true revolution," Seryakov said. "In Russia, the proportion of patients who have beaten cancer or remained in remission for more than five years increased from 52.9% in 2015 to 60.1% in 2024. One-year mortality has fallen to a historic low of 16.7%, while early-stage detection has reached 61.4%. For medicine, this represents an enormous breakthrough."

He highlighted metastatic melanoma as one of the clearest examples of progress. Once considered almost impossible to treat, it now has a five-year survival rate of about 60% thanks to modern immunotherapy. When diagnosed at Stage I, recovery is achieved in 90-95% of patients, while melanoma detected at the in situ stage is considered fully curable.

Personalized Medicine Replaces One-Size-Fits-All Treatment

According to Seryakov, cancer treatment has shifted away from traditional chemotherapy toward personalized medicine. Targeted therapies block the molecular pathways that drive tumor growth, while immunotherapy trains the patient's own immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

New technologies-including mRNA cancer vaccines, oncolytic viruses, cell-based therapies, and liquid biopsy-are also becoming increasingly important in modern oncology.

Major Investments in Cancer Care

Seryakov noted that Russia has launched its own cancer vaccine platform and nearly doubled the volume of anticancer therapies over the past six years. During the same period, approximately 16,000 pieces of medical equipment have been installed, and 18 modern oncology centers have been built across the country.

Challenges Remain

Despite rapid progress, several major challenges persist. Around 40% of cancer cases are still diagnosed at advanced stages, reducing the chances of successful treatment. In addition, innovative therapies remain expensive, and tumors can develop resistance by mutating over time.

"The main direction of oncology today is earlier detection through large-scale screening programs and the development of individualized treatment plans based on the genetic profile of each patient's tumor," Seryakov concluded. "Completely eliminating every form of cancer is not yet possible, but medicine has already moved from viewing cancer as an inevitable death sentence to treating it as a disease that can increasingly be managed-and, in many cases, cured."