One of the basic differences between cancer cells and normal healthy ones is their relationship to oxygen. Cancer cells lack oxygen. They are ‘anaerobic’, meaning that they require an absence of free oxygen to survive. On the other hand, normal cells are ‘aerobic, that is, they need oxygen in order to live and grow. Put another way, normal body cells thrive in a living organism with an internal environment that is oxygen rich while cancer cells don’t. Conversely, an oxygen deprived environment is a breeding ground for malignancy. 75 years ago, when this quality of cancer cells was discovered, it was worthy of a Nobel Prize because it had the potential to shed light on the causes of cancer and provided insights into strategies to both cure and prevent it. The implication is that a goal of cancer treatment should be to create this type of oxygen rich environment where the likelihood of a cancer developing or thriving is greatly diminished.