-88 people shouldn't say "the fight against cancer" or "this person lost the war against cancer" because cancer isn't a fight or war. a fight/war is something where two sides settle something with some sort of action or violence. cancer is just a disease, there are no two sides or fighting back of any sort. they just shouldn't be compared. amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

we can look at it metaphorically and say we're on one side and then cancer is on the other side the two sides fight to win struggling hoping Eventually we may win and go into remission that means we've "won the battle" but the war may or may not be over

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I've never had cancer so I can't speak from experience, but I'm pretty sure people with cancer fight to stay alive. If they gave in and became hopeless and just didn't care anymore, they would probably have a lower chance of recovery.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

But if it's inevitable that you'll die eventually, then it's not much of a fight. It's kind of like being a boulder that someone is hitting repeatedly with a hammer. You will break eventually, it's just a matter of how strong you are and how hard they're hitting you.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

There are plenty of cancer survivors, dear. Not everyone who has cancer dies from it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

And so the main reason they survived it was their will to live, as opposed to any treatments or therapies they were given?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't believe I ever said that.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"If they gave in and became hopeless and just didn't care anymore, they would probably have a lower chance of recovery." Now that I go back and re-read this, I can see the point that you're trying to make. And while I agree that giving up wouldn't help against cancer, I can't agree that "fighting back" will help very much either. But seeing as how neither of us has had cancer (which makes me wonder why I'm bothering to continue this debate,) and as far as I am aware, I've never known anyone close to me with cancer, I guess I don't have much business arguing about it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't fully agree, but I do find the phrase a bit annoying because it implies that the people who died weren't trying hard enough.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Your cells try to fight the cancer cells. The cancer cells try to gain territory in your body and take over your cells. They fight, one lives one survives, war. Boom.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I figured out cancer doesnt come into someones body. Everybody is born with the cancer cells inside them. Only for some people it just turns into a disease. Since your systemdoesnt recognize it as a disease it doesn't do anything without help. At least that's what my social studies teacher says.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I kind of agree, because how is one person being so strong and fighting it but one is not? They're both at the hospital getting treatments. Is that what they mean by fighting?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

War on cancer. War on drugs. War on terror. War on crime. War on poverty. Our society REALLY likes that war metaphor.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Cancer is when the body starts attacking healthy cells. Hence it's the healthy cells versus the 'evil' cells. It is a fight.

by Anonymous 12 years ago