The cure for cancer: will it come from hard lab work, ... or from serendipity?

Here's a good overall view of what serendipity is, and some examples of it

https://owlcation.com/stem/serendipity-the-role-of-chance-in-making-scientific-discoveries

From this article:

"The word “serendipity” was first used by Sir Horace Walpole in 1754. Walpole (1717–1797) was an English writer and a historian. He was impressed by a story that he had read called “The Three Princes of Serendip”. Serendip is an old name for the country known today as Sri Lanka. The story described how three traveling princes repeatedly made discoveries about things that they had not planned to explore or that surprised them. Walpole created the word “serendipity” to refer to accidental discoveries."

The article gives several examples of how serendipity has happened in past historical instances (the story about the candy bar melting in the guy's pocket, leading to the development of the microwave oven, for example, is amusing), showing that such events can and do happen anytime and anywhere.

I would also add as an example this famous case (you have all probably heard of it) of Louis Pasteur and the discovery of modern vaccination.

From a website, a classic example of serendipity at work:

"... Pasteur instructed his assistant, Charles Chamberland, to experimentally inject chickens with the cholera bacterium so that he, Pasteur, might observe the course of the disease. Then, just before a summer holiday break, Pasteur directed Chamberland to inject the chickens with a fresh culture of the bacteria. Chamberland may have been preoccupied with thoughts of the upcoming holiday, because he forgot to inject the chickens before leaving. When he returned a month later, he carried out Pasteur’s instructions, except that he injected the chickens with the now aged bacteria. What happened next was most important. The chickens that were inoculated with the aged culture developed only a very mild form of the disease ... Pasteur correctly surmised that the aging process (actually, oxidation by exposure to air) had attenuated the bacteria."

This chance discovery, caused by the negligence of a lab assistant, led to the development of modern vaccination! All because a lab assistant didn't do his job!

As noted in the article above, "All of them (serendipitous discoveries) seem to have been made due to a procedural error." Which means, ironically, that for serendipitous discoveries to be made, research can't be too tightly controlled. Because if it is, then the opportunity for serendipity to take place gets greatly diminished.

So should lab procedures therefore actually be allowed to get a little sloppy, with the thought that maybe that might result in a wonderfully serendipitous discovery happening at some point?

Maybe so. As the above article notes: "A serendipitous discovery in science is often accidental, as its name implies. Some scientists try to design their experiments in a way that increases the chance of serendipity, though."

And to the original thread title question: will a cancer cure happen someday because of a serendipitous lab accident, or a "wrong" experimental step that in fact would turn out to be a very "right" one, one that starts down the path to a cure?

It's impossible to predict how that might happen. That is because by its very nature serendipity is entirely unpredictable.

But perhaps it really will happen someday in a lab somewhere, that a careless lab assistant spills something on to something, with amazing results, or a new, inexperienced assistant misunderstands and misapplies some instruction during an experiment, with a totally unexpected but wonderful outcome, resulting in a glorious discovery, rather than just a mess to be cleaned up later and discarded.

In essence, one day a Nobel Price in Medicine in recognition of the discovery of the cure for cancer is awarded because somebody goofed? Now wouldn't that be something!

Anyone have any ideas as to how serendipity actually might come to happen in a cancer experiment, or in some kind of cancer setting, where serendipity might happen in a most unexpected but benevolent way? Let's hear it, if you do!

Ah, yes. Sarah N. Dipity. A great girl friend to have! Such great ideas would seem to come to mind whenever she is around!

Haven’t you heard? The cure for cancer lies in the Amazon jungle just waiting to be discovered.

My thoughts to share ...

My grandfather, my uncle, my father, and I have all faced a diagnosis of prostate cancer --- representing three generations in my family.

My thoughts on this topic stem from the days of my grandfather's diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer in the 1970s. I visited him each day --- but he seemed to be fading away, before my very eyes.

With the sudden news of his diagnosis, Grandpa and Grandma sold their country farmstead where they had lived since their marriage, and bought an ivy-covered brick house in town --- near my boyhood home.

We had one last Christmas together, and Grandpa was gone shortly thereafter.

Not realizing how quickly his health would fade, he died before he could finalize and sign a will.

Looking back --- I realize there were NO viable treatments available for him. There were no ADT shots for him --- no series of radiation treatments --- and no chemotherapy infusions offered to him.

My family sought out the best medical care possible --- I now realize there were few "weapons in the castle armory" --- but his courage and determination never wavered.

I realize now he was sent out onto a lonely battlefield --- without a protective silver sword or battle shield.

For my dad, my uncle, and me --- ensuing years had passed since my grandfather's diagnosis --- and all three of us have benefited from a wide variety of treatments --- that have only emerged in the past couple of decades or so.

These past few decades have seen the emergence of better diagnostics and scans and imaging techniques --- advances in surgery options --- the emergence of targeted radiation --- the formulation of individualized chemotherapy "cocktails" -- and the long-awaited arrival of breakthrough medications such as XTANDI and ZYTIGA.

I feel these strides are the result of arduous research, conducted over time --- by dedicated scientists --- who have "flashes of brilliance" that wake them up in the middle of the night --- who then find pathways forward, with research funds and financial backing for their ideas.

Thousands of experiments and clinical trials --- which have resulted in these breakthroughs and advancing treatments.

In terms of serendipity --- I feel scientists are "looking at what already exists on the laboratory shelves" --- and they are looking at "old things in new ways" --- adding proven medications, in combination with other medications --- to create new combinations -- seeking out powerful new combinations with greater synergistic effects.

Researchers are also exploring new sequencing or the overlapping of proven treatments, to create GREATER treatment success and outcomes for patients ... so there are sparks of serendipity involved in these efforts, as well.

Appreciative of the advancements I have seen emerge in cancer treatment, in my lifetime --- but hoping to see more BREAKTHROUGHS in the near future!

Here's to more research --- more breakthroughs --- and the tantalizing possibilities of future SERENDIPITY in those laboratories around the globe!

CYCLONE ~~~ # Iowa State University

Post Edited (Cyclone-ISU) : 6/13/2021 3:43:39 PM (GMT-6)

My freshman year in college I read this book for one of my classes. It describes instances of how advances in one area often bring innovations in another, that there are connections.

https://www.amazon.com/connections-james-burke/dp/0743299558/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=connections+james+burke&qid=1623635302&sprefix=connections&sr=8-4

Its interesting how knowledge is slowly cumulative, and then punctuated with sudden breakthroughs as human ingenuity and different perspectives are brought to bear.

Cancer is not one disease, say like cholera, but many diseases. If not exponentially, this variety adds tremendous challenges, and costs, to the search for treatments.