History Main / CureForCancer

* Used for DramaticIrony in ''WebVideo/Day5''. In "Breakthrough", we see doctors working to find a cure, and one scientist's boyfriend remarks how he's accepted having only days to live. That scientist has a "Eureka!" Moment, and she, along with two other scientists, finally develop a cure. Instead of a cure for the long sleep however, it's a cure for cancer, which is what the scientist's boyfriend had. To make matters worse, the scientist and her boyfriend are asleep when 3am hits, ensuring their death, which is implied to be the case for the other scientists too. So even if this all gets cured, their findings are lost.

* Subverted in an issue of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'', in which a character clarifies at a news conference that [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist The Engineer]] hasn't "cured cancer"; she's merely come up with a revolutionary new treatment for the most common form of leukemia.
* Wakanda in the ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' has had a cure for cancer for centuries, but they [[ReedRichardsIsUseless refuse to share it with the rest of the world]] [[CulturalPosturing because nowhere else deserves it]].

* Mr. Block of ''ComicBook/BlackScience'' exhibits a medical device he claims as this for his investor meeting. It's the centerpiece of his successful forays stealing technology from other dimensions.
* During the ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' storyline, [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]] invents a cure for cancer... and immediately weaponizes it in order to try to kill ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (who has major blackmail material on him) since without his cancer, Deadpool's HealingFactor would go out of control and kill him.
* ''ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}'': In ''[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainMarvel'', all the genius scientist superheroes work together to find a cure for the dying captain's cancer. Which does bring up the question of why they didn't do that years before instead of spending their time beating up bank robbers. More annoyingly, because ReedRichardsIsUseless, the cures they ''did'' find, but wouldn't work on Mar-Vell because of his powers, are never released to the general public (as seen by the Marvel writers never mentioning them again).

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} signed on with the Weapon X program because they promised they could cure his cancer. They ended up giving him a HealingFactor... that ''merged with the cancer'' and rendered him both nearly-indestructible and ''absolutely hideous''.
* The plot of ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange: The Oath'' revolves around "Otkid's Elixir", a magic potion which Doc hopes will cure his manservant Wong's brain tumor. [[spoiler:The ethical dilemma comes when Doc discovers that the elixir isn't just a cure for cancer, it's a cure for ''everything''.]] Naturally, a corrupt pharmaceuticals company bent on WithholdingTheCure interferes with him every step of the way.
* In ''ComicBook/NewXMenAcademyX'', Prodigy is shown a vision of what would happen if he has the mental block preventing him from permanently gaining the knowledge he absorbs removed. The first thing he does after he leaves the school is work with his old roommate, Elixir, and he creates a cure for both cancer and AIDS (with the promise of curing every major disease on the planet) [[InformationWantsToBeFree that he distributes around the world for free]]... at the cost of Elixir's life, since Prodigy created the cure by [[TheyWouldCutYouUp cutting his friend up too much]].
* ComicBook/SpiderMan has a couple of enemies, Styx and Stone, who are a result of this. Stone was trying to create a vaccine against cancer, and Styx was his test subject. The result is that Styx is now a walking cancer, "rotting" people with a touch. Worse, it literally gives him pleasure (heavily implied to be orgasmic) to do so.
* In ''ComicBook/SpiderManAndTheXMen'' #2, Spidey notes that the LegoGenetics technology that Sauron has [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood could easily be used to cure cancer]], considering it manipulates genetics on a whim on a wide swath of people. However, Sauron has only one thing on his mind, and [[DefiedTrope doesn't feel like it]].

* In ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'', Tom Thumb travels to the future to steal the Scarlet Centurion's Panacea Potion (which can supposedly cure anything) to cure his cancer. However, Thumb discovered that the Potion consisted of no more than penicillin and a few complex vitamins; it worked with the people of the Centurion's time since over the many centuries the human species' immune systems had been improved through eugenics, but it was ineffective with people of the Twentieth Century.
* There's a ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' WhatIf story in which [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] apparently goes straight and starts using his brain for good, and he finds a cure for cancer.
* ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'': After Luthor takes over, he makes the world into a {{Utopia}}. This includes not only a cure for cancer, AIDS, and all other forms of genetic disease, he even cures ''sleep''.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', Spider keeps a bag of anti-cancer genes in his bathroom. Comes in handy with all the cigarettes and other assorted drugs he and his filthy assistants and mutant cat take.
* In Creator/MarvelComics, the ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote feeds off of Eddie Brock's cancer when they're joined, keeping it at bay. After losing the symbiote, Brock encounters Martin Li, the good half of the supervillain Mister Negative, and Li's HealingHands cures Brock's cancer permanently... which the side-effect of turning him into Anti-Venom. Something to do with his white blood cells and remnants of the symbiote. It's a comic book, just roll with it.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: In #17 Dr. Lana Kurree creates a "cancer cure" called Plasmin. It is not treated as a cure all, just a very effective treatment that her boyfriend is trying to steal the patent for.

* In the Marvel Comics ''[[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Death of Captain Marvel]]'' plot arc, all the genius scientist superheroes work together to find a cure for the dying captain's cancer. Which does bring up the question of why they didn't do that years before instead of spending their time beating up bank robbers. More annoyingly, because ReedRichardsIsUseless, the cures they ''did'' find, but wouldn't work on Mar-Vell because of his powers, are never released to the general public (as seen by the Marvel writers never mentioning them again).

* In one episode of ''Series/SevenDays1998'', the cure for cancer mutates into a plague that wipes out all life on earth.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E97TheGift The Gift]]", an alien come to Earth, landing near a small Mexican town. The Mexicans distrusted him, and eventually killed him, but not before he tried to give them a gift written on a piece of paper, which they burned. The town doctor who had seen this happen but was held back from doing anything grabs the paper and puts the fire out. He reads the inscription out loud.
-->"To the people of Earth. As a gesture of our goodwill here is the formula for curing all forms of cancer." [[NiceJobBreakingItHero The rest]] [[WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings is burned]].

* The Bakshi ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' episode "Don't Touch That Dial" features a Rocky and Bullwinkle spoof ("Rocky and Hoodwinkle"). It opens with narrator noting that Hoodwinkle was working on a cure for cancer.
-->'''Hoodwinkle:''' At last...a cure for loud Hawaiian shirts!

* A vingiette in ''Blog/HowToWriteBadlyWell'' has a MadScientist work on a cure for cancer for the decidedly ignoble goal of putting a charity out of business and ensuring he won't have to read any more survivorsob stories.

* 'Cancer cure = zombies' also appears in the ''Literature/{{Newsflesh}}'' series.

* The plot of ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange: The Oath'' revolves around "Otkid's Elixir", a magic potion which Doc hopes will cure his manservant Wong's brain tumor. Naturally a corrupt pharmaceuticals company bent on WithholdingTheCure interferes with him every step of the way.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan has a couple of enemies, Styx and Stone, who are a result of this. Stone was trying to create a vaccine against cancer, and Styx was his test subject. The result is that Styx is now a walking cancer, "rotting" people with a touch. Worse, it literally gives him pleasure to do so (heavily implied to be orgasmic).

** In "Blood Brothers", a scientist tries to develop an effective KnockoutGas to be used by the riot police. However, despite the numerous trials, the gas still has a 20% lethality rate. One experiment results in the test monkey not only surviving but also becoming immune to any and all disease or poison. The scientist's CorruptCorporateExecutive brother wants to [[WithholdingTheCure withhold this cure-all]] from the general population, pointing out that this would result in overpopulation. However, he uses the drug himself to cure his hereditary condition. [[spoiler:In the end, though, it's revealed that the drug's effect is extremely temporary. In fact, it rapidly drains all the body's resources, leaving the person a frail shell only surviving through the use of life-sustaining machines.]]
** "The New Breed" involves the use of [[{{Nanomachines}} nanites]] to monitor and repair cells. However, their "repair" feature doesn't appear to have a limit, and they start [[HarmfulHealing improving what they see as flaws of the human body]]. The person who injects himself with them tests his ability to hold his breath underwater... and the nanites end up giving him gills. Eventually, he also gets eyes on the back of his head to improve his vision. In the end, the inventor of the nanites, his friend, ends up having to kill him. It should be noted that the nanites are still in the testing phase, and the guy only takes them because he has terminal cancer.
** In "The Voyage Home", the alien in the form of Pete Claridge tells Ed Barkley that it will give humanity the cure for cancer once it arrives on Earth.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

* In ''ComicBook/SpiderManAndTheXMen'' #2, Spidey notes that the LegoGenetics technology that [[StockDinosaurs Sauron]] has [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood could easily be used to cure cancer]], considering it manipulates genetics on a whim on a wide swath of people. However, Sauron has only one thing on his mind, and [[DefiedTrope doesn't feel like it]].

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-500 SCP-500]] consists of a number of small pills that will cure absolutely any disease (including some of the really creepy supernatural diseases the Foundation has stored) with no chance of relapse or side effects. The only problem is that there aren't very many of them, and no one has any idea where they came from or how to make more. It was found, however, that using [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-038 SCP-038]] to clone the pills resulted in pills that work 30% of the time with no damage to the original pill. Not perfect, but far better than nothing. Unfortunately, the cloned pills deteriorate quickly, so marketing them is impossible, but at least Foundation members don't have to worry about diseases.

* ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'': After Luthor takes over, he makes the world into a MarySuetopia. This includes not only a cure for cancer, AIDS, and all other forms of genetic disease, he even cures ''sleep''.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cancer_cure_from_deadpool_vol_2_12.jpg]]]]

Note that the reason we don't have this in RealLife (and the reason it is so sought-after) is that "cancer" is an extremely general term for any number of diseases. Some of them ''have'' had cures discovered (or at least effective long-term treatments, or preventative vaccinations), but no miracle cure for the whole lot is forthcoming, and it's quite probable it never will be.

-->'''Spider-Man:''' You can rewrite DNA on the fly, and you're using it [[BalefulPolymorph to turn people into]] ''dinosaurs''? But with tech like that, you could cure ''cancer''!\\

* ''Literature/{{Succession}}'' mentions at one point that every time the main gun is fired, the crew develop "the simplest and most easily cured cancers" as a side effect.

* ''Webcomic/{{TREVOR}}'': Dr. Maddison had been trying new, experimental treatments on terminally ill patients, and by the time the new members of the medical team were brought on, Trevor’s leukemia [[spoiler:had been long gone]]. [[FromBadToWorse However, things only got worse from there]].

* In ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'''s HalloweenEpisode, the kids need cold medicine, so they try to find some in the lab on Spooky Island. There, Space Kid finds a box labeled "Campbell Corp. Cure for Cancer!" and tosses it aside, though since the box had a fine print saying "Warning: Extremely Toxic. Do Not Consume.", it wouldn't have done people any good anyway.

* During the ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' storyline, [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]] invents a cure for cancer... and immediately weaponizes it in order to try to kill ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} (who has major blackmail material on him) since without his cancer, Deadpool's HealingFactor would go out of control and kill him.

* There's a ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' WhatIf story in which [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] apparently goes straight and starts using his brain for good, and he finds a cure for cancer.
* In ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'', Tom Thumb travels to the future to steal the Scarlet Centurion's Panacea Potion (which can supposedly cure anything) to cure his cancer. However, Thumb discovered that the Potion consisted of no more than penicillin and a few complex vitamins; it worked with the people of the Centurion's time since over the many centuries the human species' immune systems had been improved through eugenics, but it was ineffective with people of the Twentieth Century.

* In Creator/MarvelComics, the ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote feeds off of Eddie Brock's cancer when they're joined, keeping it at bay. After losing the symbiote, Brock encounters Martin Li, the good half of the supervillain Mister Negative, and Li's HealingHands cures Brock's cancer permanently... which the side-effect of turning him into Anti-Venom. Something to do with his white blood cells and remnants of the symbiote. It's a comic book, just roll with it.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', Spider keeps a bag of anti-cancer genes in his bathroom. Comes in handy with all the cigarettes and other assorted drugs he and his filthy assistants and mutant cat take.

* Mr. Block of ''ComicBook/BlackScience'' exhibits a medical device he claims as this for his investor meeting. It's the centerpiece of his successful forays stealing technology from other dimensions.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan has a couple of enemies, Styx and Stone, who are a result of this. Stone was trying to create a vaccine against cancer, and Styx was his test subject. The result is that Styx is now a walking cancer, "rotting" people with a touch. Worse, it literally gives him pleasure to do so (heavily implied to be orgasmic).

* ''Fanfic/EscapeFromTheMoon'': In the later sequel ''Scavenge for the Future'', Spliced Genome is able to fix Aerostorm's lung cancer just by sending a magical pulse through her and harmlessly pulling all the cancer cells out, then disintegrating them.

* ''Film/MedicineMan''. Dr. Robert Campbell (Sean Connery) discovers a cure for cancer and then loses it.

* The scientists in ''Film/DeepBlueSea'' are growing giant [[UpliftedAnimal super-smart sharks]] to harvest chemicals from the sharks' brains that can be used to cure Alzheimer. Unfortunately, the process involved [[TooDumbToLive GROWING GIANT SUPER SMART SHARKS]]!
* And in ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' they're growing [[UpliftedAnimal super-smart apes]] as test subjects to find a cure for Alzheimer's, only to find that their latest drug 1) [[spoiler:kills humans]] and 2) [[spoiler:MAKES APES EVEN MORE SUPER SMART]]!

* In ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'', when a human is turned into a vampire, it cures all of their ailments, including cancer. It also freezes their bodies at the age they were when they turned. Too bad they can only drink human blood which is in very short supply. [[spoiler:That is, until a working substitute is found near the end.]]
* The machines that ''Film/{{Elysium}}'' makes use of are manufactured by a MegaCorp known as Armadyne. They are known as the Med-Pod 3000, and they'll cure anything from crow's feet to cancer. All it takes is a simple scan and brief surgery. Max [=DaCosta=] is trying to get to Elysium because he is dying from extreme radiation exposure, and using a Med-Pod would save his life. Frey, his childhood friend, is also desperate to get to Elysium because her daughter is dying of leukemia.
* ''Film/SharkAttack'': Miles has been injecting the sharks with hormones so he can later harvest them for a cancer cure. He demonstrates this when he takes the hero to a [[LittlestCancerPatient young African boy]] who would have died if not for his cure. Steven calls him out for his breach of ethics by going to a developing country to test experimental drugs on children, and it later turns out that there's problems with the drug anyway.
* ''Film/{{Mimic}}'' puts a bit of a twist on this trope in that in order to stop an epidemic affecting the children of New York City, they don't engineer the giant mutant killer bugs to manufacture a direct cure, but because the Judas Breed specifically feed on cockroaches, the disease's carriers. They just become [[ToServeMan anthropophages]] after devouring the entire cockroach population.
* In ''Film/TheMonsterMaker'', Dr. Markoff has developed both a means of infecting people with acromegaly (a condition usually caused by a defective pituitary gland and having no known cure) and a cure for it. He plans to use the serums in a PoisonAndCureGambit.
* This is Dr. Phillips' dream in ''Film/IslandOfTerror''. Unfortunately, he is presented as careless and impatient, leading to his efforts accidentally creating a race of bone-eating monsters.
* In ''Film/TheManWithNineLives'', Dr. Mason's freezing therapy is being touted as potential cure for cancer. When the hospital forces a temporary halt to his experiments, he goes in search of the lost notes of Dr. Kravaal--the doctor who pioneered the therapy--in hopes of finding the missing component to guarantee success.

* ''Literature/{{Succession}}'' mentions at one point that every time the main gun is fired, the crew develop "the simplest and most easily cured cancers" as a side effect.

* In ''Literature/NeverLetMeGo'' by Kazuo Ishiguro, [[spoiler:the main characters are clones created to be used as [[WalkingTransplant unlimited organ donors]] for the cure for cancer]].
* In the Creator/NeilGaiman short story "Changes", a cure for ''almost'' all forms of cancer known as "rebooting" is developed, which, while it cures any case of cancer overnight, also has the [[SideEffectsInclude minor side effect]] of switching the patient's biological sex... [[EasySexChange until they take another dose, anyway]]. The ''intended'' use for the drug barely merits a mention after its creator realizes what happened to the first patient it's tested on.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Literature/TheExpanse''; after Holden sustains a massive dose of radiation, he has to take anti-cancer pills daily for the rest of his life. It also turns out that they're [[spoiler:very effective at killing an alien algae that colonizes human eyeballs]].

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E97TheGift The Gift]]", an alien come to Earth, landing near a small Mexican town. The Mexicans distrusted him, and eventually killed him, but not before he tried to give them a gift written on a piece of paper, which they burned. The town doctor who had seen this happen but was held back from doing anything grabs the paper and puts the fire out. He reads the inscription out loud.
-->"To the people of Earth. As a gesture of our goodwill here is the formula for curing all forms of cancer." [[NiceJobBreakingItHero The rest]] [[WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings is burned]].
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** The Goa'uld symbiote can cure cancer, among other diseases. Jacob Carter became a Tok'ra host for this reason.
** Tretonin does the same thing, though the original recipe for it used defective symbiotes so it wasn't as effective as it could have been. Also, if people ever stopped taking it (and the planet in question was running out quickly), they would die.
** While the formula for Tretonin was later altered to allow the people of Pangara to safely come off the drug and/or make it less addictive, Jaffa who switched to Tretonin to free themselves from their reliance on Goa'uld symbiotes, end up dependent on taking the drug to maintain their immune system.

* In one episode of ''Series/SevenDays'', the cure for cancer mutates into a plague that wipes out all life on earth.
* In ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', there's a drug called "Reset" which "restores the human body to its factory settings". It can cure cancer, AIDS, diabetes, pretty much everything... but then you die from a parasitic infection.

* ''Series/{{Eureka}}'': It's mentioned in one episode that the town has cures for the common cold, male pattern baldness, and a few other small but annoying diseases.
-->'''Clerk:''' Still too expensive for mass production, but living in Eureka does have its perks.

* A ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip involves Paige dreaming of herself as a doctor and coming up with this, as well as an AIDS vaccine and a hiccup cure.

* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', you are presented with the choice of passing a bill to cure cancer or ending world hunger. Your decision doesn't matter since Earth is soon subject to an alien invasion and blown up shortly thereafter.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'', it's eventually revealed that the various murders that the protagonist is investigating are all part of a government conspiracy involving an experimental cure for Alzheimer's Disease. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, said experimental cure is completely lethal to humans and the murder victims involved are all either failed test subjects or killed to cover up the conspiracy.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': While pilfering a closet of pharmaceuticals, Sam dismisses several bottles of "over-the-counter cancer cures" and "cheap life extension pills" [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01603.htm as worthless]].

* A ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2021/09/10/ strip]] shows a WhatIf scenario where Tycho cures cancer as a result of not becoming friends with Gabe.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': The episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E3TheOldManAndTheBigC The Old Man and the Big 'C']]" is about Stewie and Brian discovering that Carter Pewterschmidt is [[WithholdingTheCure withholding a cure for cancer]], because he makes more money from the medical expenses of treating cancer patients.
* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'': One of the pieces of ImportedAlienPhlebotinum MIB has is the cure for the common cold. When Jay says he thought it didn't exist, Elle says that it does, it's just "not common". Apparently, it's just a pill you take once.