Let me preface my comments by stating that I find the members of this site to be among the very brightest and well informed on many different subjects. I however find many of your views lacking by a group that typically is spot on. I personally take issue with anyone who flat out stated that any stage 4 cancer is a certain death sentence. It shows a clear misunderstanding of the standard cancer staging system which incorporates size of a tumor, location of a tumor, and spread of a tumor, all of which combined or alone can delineate staging. Sometimes a cancer has an unknown primary which in itself can cause a stage 4 classification. Then there is the chemical analysis of a tissue sample which can determine treatment options based on what caused the cancer in the first place. Some have more favorable treatment options and better survival rates than others, for instance, I'll speak to head and neck cancer, specifically base of the tongue cancer, which was my affliction. In this type of cancer caused by the HPV virus, specifically #16 and #18 have much better survival rates than the traditional drinking and smoking causative factors. Now consider that almost all cervical cancers are HPV related. Cancers are very individualized and treatments are tailored to that individual, by age, weight, and any other health variables of the individual. Chemotherapy and radiation is also tailored using all those variables and closely monitored and adjusted, some are given infused every 30 days in powerful brink of death doses and others are given daily in small tolerable doses to weaker individuals. Treatment options are constantly evolving to the point that head and neck cancer of HPV origin has gone from surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy to just one modality now yielding the same outcome. There is progress, I can speak to only a few minute strides, for instance radiation has come a long way from Cobalt, to Intensity modulated beam, and now proton, each successive one doing less and less damage to nearby tissue. These little improvements exist in every type of cancer treatment and are evolving in imperceptible increments to which the posted article does not reference probably because you really have to experience this stuff first hand to appreciate the little nuances of the horrors of cancer treatment which have allowed this stage 4 survivor to celebrate 10 years of life post diagnosis. To anyone diagnosed with cancer, it's an individual disease with a multitude of variables and blanket conclusions sometimes don't apply.