Curing cancer is a lofty goal — and has proven a very difficult one to attain. But when it comes to breast cancer, at least, some Negev physicians and researchers don’t think developing a cure is an impossible task.
“Certainly, it is an attainable goal to cure every case of breast cancer,” said David Geffen, M.D., chief of Breast Oncology Services at the Soroka Medical Center. “Right now, it’s not a fantasy in the sky.”
Researchers from the medical center, along with those from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and its Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center in New York City, met at Soroka in Beersheba earlier this month to review some of the world’s latest cancer research findings. The conference explored ideas that are changing researchers’ definitions and understanding of the disease, and analyzed ties between cancer and bone health, obesity and other factors.
Soroka’s location and status were key in hosting this conference — and in conducting this research, said Dr. Ehud Davidson, the medical center’s director general, at a briefing in Jerusalem prior to the conference.
“The residents of 60% of Israel’s land mass all depend on one hospital — ours, which is of course a big one and a good one, but still just one,” he said. “We call ourselves the ‘medical Iron Dome’ in the Negev — in times of war and times of peace.”