NAPLES, Fla. — The three-day Naples NEXT Ideas Festival brought together leading experts from around the country to discuss issues affecting a large number people, and offering solutions. Tuesday, a panel discussion at the Naples Grande Beach Resort, called "Victory Over Cancer," offered hope for a cure.
"A cure for many types of cancer could be right around the corner," said Kimberly Blackwell, MD, vice president of Early Phase Oncology at Eli Lilly and Companies.
"The cure for cancer will come when we not only have an understanding about cancer, but a better understanding of the human immune system," she added.
Blackwell said that successful treatments for cancers such as leukemia show that there's a promising future in controlling other forms of the disease.
William Nelson, MD, of the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center, said that the millions of cancer survivors in the U.S. should give others with the disease hope.
"The number of cancer survivors is at least fourteen or fifteen million in this country, and it's increasing," he said.
Russell Tuff of Golden Gate was impressed by what he heard at the oncologists' panel discussion.
"There was an event last year where they were saying 'we don't use that word: cure,'" he said. "I see they've reversed that course, and said 'let's talk about a cure.'"
Other discussion topics at Naples NEXT included education, and South Florida's water quality issues.
