this thread seems like it's turning towards the 9/11 didn't really happen path. a shitload of people get cancer every year. how is there no money in curing it?
Sure does.
Think about all of the advancements of the industrial era and how many of these advances are found to be carcinogenic... those things aren't going away. And people think that there are enough "forces" in the world trying to keep people down who are just insanely evil and want to keep people sick and dying instead of keeping those people alive so they can buy other things. The reason we haven't cured "cancer" yet is not because of some cabal of capitalists repressing cures -- and anyone who thinks that it is happening is: (a) completely drinking the kool-aid, (b) preaching pseudoscience as hope, or (c) trying to sell you something. The reason we haven't cured "cancer" is because its an incredibly complex series of disease conditions that is not susceptible to one cure-all (based on current medical understanding) -- thats it. The reputational, financial, and historical incentives to do it are outstanding.
You're really telling me one of the many pharmaceutical companies in this world wouldn't want to be the company that founded and patented the cure for cancer? Is there a better tagline for a company: "[xxxx] -- we cured cancer". Boom, your company goes down in history immediately and forever. Those evil corporations are always acting in what is the best financial interests, and the potential reward is massive, just massive to "cure" cancer if it could be done scientifically. The problem is that it can't be done based on current scientific knowledge and ability.