J's cancer was so dumb...it turned out to be benign.

It seems like cancer operates, somewhat, as bacteria behave. In a way, cancer becomes immune to a therapy just as bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics. That's why it is so important to a person's (and the rest of the world's) health that he or she finish all the antibiotics prescribed to him or her.

Just as radiation destroys everything in its path (cancer cells and healthy tissues and structures) the antibiotic decimates the bacterial population and kills every last bacterium. However, it seems that if the treatment is stopped too soon, the cells (cancer or bacteria) reestablish their presence. They have treatment experience programmed into them and they adapt accordingly. They become harder to treat and harder to cure.

Now, if they can just figure out why Human Papillomavirus doesn't behave like a virus...