Opinion | Not Everything We Call Cancer Should Be Called Cancer
Opinion | Not Everything We Call Cancer Should Be Called Cancer
Calling something cancer can lead to aggressive treatment even if the cancer in question is unlikely to cause problems.
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Ah, this got a good writeup by news piece. I first learned about this from Medlife Crisis's The Epidemic of Fake Disease. Statistics about anything as big as cancer diagnoses are beyond complex, and honestly it would take a gargantuan effort of science communication to get this out to the general public. It's... sobering to know that mortality is not morbidity and that harsh side effects create the most important optimization problems of patients' lives. I hope that if (or maybe when) I get confronted with a similar diagnosis, I can face the numbers and the odds with as much of a level head as possible.
The important thing is NOT to read the numbers and odds when/if it happens to you. Treatments are progressing rapidly, and odds are based on people receiving treatment 5+ years previously.