3 ms·
It is a disease and survival has dramatically increased because of amazing progress in treatments. Just look at the recent drop in cancer mortality in the US.
by mamp 7y ago
It is a disease and survival has dramatically increased because of amazing progress in treatments. Just look at the recent drop in cancer mortality in the US.
It is incorrect and irresponsible to blame people who get cancer for eating badly etc. Sometimes things go wrong at a cellular level and cancer happens.
- jaked89 7y agoThere's no real drop, but number manipulation. They just label you as "healed" if the tumor doesn't return after a some short period of time, which gets shorter by the year. Actually mortality rates are at all times high, globally.
- jghn 7y agoAre you referring to the shift away from using overall survival to progression free survival? If so I agree that this rubbed me the wrong way as well. However if one looks there has been tremendous progress in some cancers. As an example CML went from a swift death sentence to something approaching a chronic condition.
- mamp 7y agoThat’s because everyone dies! The article avoids mentioning that cancer rates have risen as other causes, particularly infections, have declined over many decades. The average lifespan has increased globally. In developed countries this is largely due to improvements in cardiovascular drugs/treatment and cancer drugs. The standard survival rates are quoted as 5 year survival unless the cancer is particularly aggressive eg pancreatic. The statistics around cancer are very high quality and public in most countries. However, I suspect data will not influence your view.
- smooc 7y agoDid you read the article? It states the drop in cancer mortality is largly due to the fall of smoking. 'A 2006 analysis concluded that “without reductions in smoking, there would have been virtually no reduction in overall cancer mortality in either men or women since the early 1990s.'