Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12
I understand that this has more to do with an overall improvement in diagnostics, so people are living longer after diagnosis, but not longer in absolute terms.
Outside of a few miracle treatments, the overall mortality rate has only decreased by 5%. A lot of that has to do with lifestyle changes - deaths attributed to lung cancer are decreasing because far less people in the western world are smoking.
The number of unnecessary treatments, tests, and surgeries are at an all-time high with very little evidence to suggest they are at all effective.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article....icleid=1722196 |
Understanding what lifestyle changes are needed is part of the research and treatment.
Here is a good summary about the study you posted.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/813241_2
Research looking at how to improve cancer detection and treatment. Constantly improving diagnostic techniques and definitns is nothing but a positive. Medicine is all about current best practices.