Sandy

Sorry, I thought you wanted more technical infomation when I posted those links. I used to specialize in doing plain english translations of medical terms decades ago so I forget how daunting they appear at first. For example the opening quote of the ocogene article [quote]Tumors often possess cytogenetically different clones that arise from the initial transformed cell through secondary or tertiary genetic alterations. This heterogeneity contributes to differences in clinical behavior and responses to treatment of tumors of the same diagnostic type. Apart from the initial clone and subclones, tumors can also contain progenitor cancer cells, all of which constitute a spectrum of cells with different genetic alterations and states of differentiation. These populations can differ in sensitivity to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other treatments, making clinical management difficult. For these reasons, the initiating steps in the development of cancer are of considerable clinical importance and are a priority in the development of rational cancer treatment[/quote]can be summarized as: Cancer tumors constantly change their cells' genetic makeup in series of steps that makes it hard to predict how even the same types of cancer will react to treatment. Until we know those various steps, we will not have a "rational" cancer treatment.
Now I love the medical admission that the current treatment of cut, burn and poison for all cancers is not rational but it is all we have.
My understanding is that a cancer is "aggressive" when it is resistant to treatment, reoccurs or spreads. Prostate cancer is usually not aggressive and males can live to 90 with it with no ill effects as is is slow growing. Watch and wait is an accepted therapy for such cancers. When I asked back in 2007 what if I just waited and again in 2009, all three doctors said I would die within a year of a very painful death. That is an aggressive cancer. Unfortunately most if not all head and neck cancers are aggressive. Simply the nature of the beast. Some cancers react wonderfully to treatment, like the type Lance Armstrong had - relatively easy to "cure". Not so much for ours. Various medical articles have described oral cancer as "insidious", "catastrophic", etc due to the major life impairments that even successful treatments cannot avoid since it involves our head and neck which cannot be amputated. We all cope with the new normal as best we can.