05.26.06
Update on cancer screening
Writing a new post for this but following on from ” Americans worry too much”. Here’s a recent story on how more efficient diagnosis can actually make you sicker. It’s about prostate cancer.
“Most men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer may not need radical treatments such as surgery or radiotherapy, which can have serious side effects, researchers said on Thursday.
A modelling study by scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research has shown that men whose cancer is detected early with a screening test are unlikely to die from the illness.
So treatments such as surgery to remove the prostate gland or radiotherapy which can cause incontinence and impotence will probably not improve their survival.
“Most men with prostate cancer detected by PSA screening will live out their natural span without the disease causing them any ill effects,” said Dr Chris Parker whose findings are reported in the British Journal of Cancer.”
ogie16 said,
May 26, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Like all medicine it’s got to be a risk-benefit analysis. There is no such thing as a harmless solution to any ailment. Every treatment harbours some risk, it’s just a matter of deciding whether the risk involved outweighs the potential benefits. For most lay-people suffering from disease, and almost all relatives of sufferers, they will opt to persue any theraly that may cure them, no matter what the consequences are. For this reason the decision is usually left to the doctor/consultant/etc. It’s unfortunate, but imagine the waiting lists if every possible treatment was tried on patients.
Daniel K. said,
May 26, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Actually, I remember hearing Dr. Bill Tormey saying the same thing once.
GUBU » More on increased incidence of cancer said,
June 8, 2006 at 9:08 am
[...] More on cancer screening. Remember my previous posts on the value of increased diagnosis and treatment of cancers, which may not be entirely necessary? See this from today’s IT [...]