3 ms·
One anecdote about experimental cancer treatment: Expect the unexpected. My mother had uterine cancer. As it progressed, she entered a study and took experimen
by gwbas1c 3y ago
One anecdote about experimental cancer treatment: Expect the unexpected.
My mother had uterine cancer. As it progressed, she entered a study and took experimental drugs.
The cancer spread to her spine, which is highly unusual for uterine cancer. Because it's unusual, her oncologist went into denial and didn't treat her appropriately.
I remember listening to the oncologist say "it can't be spinal cancer, that doesn't happen" while I could see that the infectious disease expert was humoring the oncologist and checking my mom for spinal meningitis.
- lainga 3y agoWhat is to be done about the strong individualistic element - some might say liability - among doctors in Western medical systems?
- fidotron 3y agoAI, unironically.
- giantg2 3y agoExactly - deviate from the established protocol and you open up legal risks, possibly get fired from your practice (since most are big companies now and not individuals or partners), etc.
- gwbas1c 3y agoThe irony was that the infectious disease expert checking my mom was very Chinese, both in appearance and accent. If she (infectious disease expert) had the "western" "strong individualistic element," she might have pulled the oncologist aside and said, "look..." (If she hadn't already done that, but was merely seeing my mom so her oncologist could save face.) The real issue is mindset and maturity. These issues happen in all cultures.
- lainga 3y agoAlright, point taken...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- borbulon 3y agoI'm sorry to hear about your mother. I have cancer, and I've definitely gotten a few "we've never seen x happen with y drug," but they've always been ready to accept that I'm just in the 0.00001 percentile or whatever that this happens to. They've never tried to treat me for something else, they believed that what was happening, was happening.
- appplication 3y agoIt makes a lot more sense when you consider the even specialized cancer docs maybe see a couple thousand cases max over their entire career. If someone takes an experimental cancer drug and dies of a heart attack, their doc may never even hear about it. Or if they do, just assume it was the cancer, or unrelated. Medicine is difficult.
- ignorethefacts 3y ago[flagged]