Cancer research is a pipe dream like this country operating on alternative energy. Both way to far out to be meaningful to anyone alive now.
Some cancers have become quite treatable, even to the point of eliminating it completely in some cases.
Unfortunately, since cancer is an aneuploid cell, it looks like part of you, and your immune system won't attack it. In most cases, treatment can buy a bit of time, but cancer will return (since they never got completely, or the cause that brought it about is still there), and a usually painful death follows from cancer anyway.
In other words, it's better than it was, but not by much.
As far as 'alternative' energy. There really is no such thing. Energy is energy, whether it comes from a coal fired generating plant, gasoline for your car, or a solar power panel. Let the free market decide what type of energy people want to buy.
Solar power is the most expensive method of producing electricity (watt for watt). Wind comes in 2nd. It is far cheaper to build a nuclear power plant.
For mobile power sources, gasoline has the best energy density by volume, while kerosene has the best energy density by weight. Both oil and natural gas are renewable forms of energy.