US President Barack Obama's announcement of a “moonshot” bid to cure cancer, continues a centuries-long quest to defeat a disease which kills over eight million people every year. There are more than 100 types of cancer, each with its own diagnosis and treatment. Surgery became common only in the 19th century with the advent of anaesthesia, and is still the standard cancer treatment today, often followed by radio- or chemotherapy to kill any remaining cancer cells.
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The decades-long quest to cure cancer