How much do we know about cancer?

By reading "The Family That Couldn't Sleep" I have learned once again about Prions yet in a different perspective. I have studied Prions before and many of us know that it can be very uncontrollable. A not so called "protein" can hinder the body as well know from the reading and it has been very difficult to find a cure ad treatment to this matter. Does this sound in any way like cancer?

Cancer has proven to be worth fighting for, a battle that we all wish to win. Uncontrolled rapidly growing cells is often difficult to manouver. I have also known the some times of cancer can be hereditary in some ways. For example, breast cancer is believed to be extremely elevated by individuals who encounter 2 genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. It has always been believed that the chance of increase has about an 80% life time effect. It is now occurring that by investigating several woman, it appears to be the case that it is untrue. Hereditary does not entirely play a huge role in cancer, but it does in some ways. Also the mutations of the above genes hinder this aspect with respect to age as well. Studies show that older women who become diagnosed with breast cancer, the relatives chances of acquiring cancer is much less than a woman who will be diagnosed at a young age.

This adds to the question about how much we understand cancer, likewise to the point of how much we understand about prions. Many defects out there pose high risks, but some are explainable. Seems to me that prions and cancer are alike in the same way that take a huge chunk of the cake. Can life be driven to victory by battling the above diseases? Really who knows, certain things in life are sometimes meant to be unexplained, but with an issue like prions and cancer, with the amount of technology we have today, I sure would hope we become one step closer to the solution.

Further reading if wanted (From NY Times) --> http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/breast-cancer-gene-risk-may-be-overstated/