Hi all, my name is Shreshtha Wadhwa and I am a sophomore biology major. Cancer Biology is my first upper division cell/molecular biology class and the reason I have chosen this class in particular is because I want to study in depth the underlying mechanisms, learn about the treatment/prevention options, and the extent to which this group of diseases that have plagued and claimed the lives of so many people in our world can be "cured", if at all. Although there will continue to be more incidents and cases of cancer in all segments of the population - adults, children, and adolescents - in the coming decades because cancer doesn't discriminate, I hope that this class can help me to demystify the information surrounding this very important subject matter. Attached is a chart depicting the estimated number of new cancer cases and deaths by sex in 2014 in the US (American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2014). What can be noted from the data is that men are more likely to develop and die of cancer than women overall and in comparison across most sites of the body, which makes me wonder why such a gap exists.
