How sophisticated is our understanding of cancer?

There has been a huge amount of funding and effort invested into researching cancer in depth and it seems that there is an incredibly sophisticated understanding of how cancer cell function and process, but comparatively our knowledge of the causes and cures is still quite elementary. It seems that cancer diagnoses are increasing at such a rapid rate that there is a tough race at hand, trying to find improved treatments and potential cures while cancer continues to persistently develop in new patterns and forms. However, there has been some success in cancer treatment as death rates are now shown to be decreasing. The main issue with the current treatments is that although they have has some effective results, radiation and chemo drugs are incredibly toxic and are a huge blow to the already weak system of the patient, so while it can kill the cancer cells, it doesn't seem to give the body much encouragement to heal otherwise. This is where TCM could really help.