Cancer Resources

The report, in the September 2009 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute estimates 1.3 million additional men have been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer since 1987. Authors claim most of this group are likely to have been overdiagnosed.

“Given the considerable time that has passed since PSA screening began, most of this excess incidence must represent overdiagnosis,” the authors write. “All overdiagnosed patients are needlessly exposed to the hassle factors of obtaining treatment, the financial implications of the diagnosis, and the anxieties associated with becoming a cancer patient…”

The increased diagnosis has been most dramatic among younger men: more than tripling since 1986 in men aged 50-59 (from 58.4 to 212.7 per 100, 000) and more than a sevenfold increase in men under age 50 (from 1.3 to 9.4 per 100,000). Continue reading ‘How Improvements in Treatment Have Reduced Problems Associated With Treatment’ »

Breast cancer is among the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women after skin cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 192,000 new cases were in the United States during 2009. At the same time period, over 40,000 women were expected to die from breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second most frequent cancer killer of woman in America. Despite the increase of breast cancer among women the mortality rate has begun to decline recently. The increased survival rate is the result of high screening rates and improved adjuvant therapy.

The ideal screening exam for early breast cancer detection is to find cancers prior to causing symptoms. The exams doctors use are created to find cancer in symptom free people. The key here is early detection. The goal is to find the breast cancer in women before it spreads beyond the breasts. Breast cancer screening exams greatly increase the chances of finding cancer still confined to the breast. The size of a breast cancer and the extent it has spread are of the most important factors in predicting the outlook for a woman with the disease. The majority of doctors hold that early detection saves thousands of lives each year. Continue reading ‘Trust the efficiency of only the right testing techniques to detect early breast cancer’ »