3 ms·

You also have to factor in the age at which people die from the different cancers. Deaths from breast cancer tend to skew a lot younger (dying from prostate ca

by dagw 8y ago

You also have to factor in the age at which people die from the different cancers. Deaths from breast cancer tend to skew a lot younger (dying from prostate cancer before you're 50 for example is less common than dying from breast cancer before you're 30). So if you instead look at 'lost' life years due to cancer (compared to the life expectancy), the picture changes dramatically. The number of women who die before 60 from breast cancer is roughly 10 times that of men who die before 60 from prostate cancer (UK numbers).

belorn 8y ago
That is one way to look at it, through I will say there is more context. Treatment increases the short time risk of death, but reduces mortality in the long run. Prostate cancer screening is not done for men below the age of 50 because the risk of over treatment is deemed to be too costly, which in comparison to breast cancer means that prostate cancer is allowed to grow unchecked for longer compared to breast cancer. When I see researchers mentioning the decision to not do prostate cancer screening they often acknowledge that this pushes up the age group where the disease kills the patient. But to go back a bit, the issue that was brought up was the disparity in male vs female cancer incidence and mortality. Prostate cancer has higher incident rate in Sweden compared to breast cancer, and higher mortality rate. Because of the higher incidence rate and years that patients will suffering from it we can also see it has having higher debilitating effect. While there is some validity in counting "lost life years" I do not think it validates the claim that it dictate which disease is more dangerous. Breast cancer has higher "lost life years". Prostate cancer has higher rate of incidents, mortality, and "life debilitating years".

3 ms·

You also have to factor in the age at which people die from the different cancers. Deaths from breast cancer tend to skew a lot younger (dying from prostate ca

by dagw 8y ago

belorn 8y ago
That is one way to look at it, through I will say there is more context. Treatment increases the short time risk of death, but reduces mortality in the long run. Prostate cancer screening is not done for men below the age of 50 because the risk of over treatment is deemed to be too costly, which in comparison to breast cancer means that prostate cancer is allowed to grow unchecked for longer compared to breast cancer. When I see researchers mentioning the decision to not do prostate cancer screening they often acknowledge that this pushes up the age group where the disease kills the patient. But to go back a bit, the issue that was brought up was the disparity in male vs female cancer incidence and mortality. Prostate cancer has higher incident rate in Sweden compared to breast cancer, and higher mortality rate. Because of the higher incidence rate and years that patients will suffering from it we can also see it has having higher debilitating effect. While there is some validity in counting "lost life years" I do not think it validates the claim that it dictate which disease is more dangerous. Breast cancer has higher "lost life years". Prostate cancer has higher rate of incidents, mortality, and "life debilitating years".