This blog post is a follow on from this post I wrote about cancer survival, and is about some really interesting quirks we encounter when we try to study it. These problems arise when we increase our ability to detect the cancer at earlier stages. Continue reading
Disparities in cancer survival
In my last post I published some good news about cancer survival rates, so I thought it was important to highlight a big problem with our recent success against this disease. This issue is flagged up in a study published at the end of January.
It addresses the fact that the gains we have made in cancer diagnosis and treatment are very unevenly spread around the world. To analyze this is greater detail, the scientists studied the differences in survival in different countries, and the results are somewhat predictable.
If, for example, you are an Australian or American with breast cancer, you have a 90% chance of surviving. If you are Indian however, you only have a 66% chance.
Are cancer rates rising?
Cancer is so prevalent in life now that it is easy to think that the rates are skyrocketing. However, the numbers don’t back this up. In actual fact, we are slowly but surely advancing our response to the disease, and recently published data underlines this progress.
The publication was the annual report of the American Cancer Society. In that article, they compile all the recent data to see what trends there are in cancer rates and deaths.
The report delivers some good news.
Ultra-processed foods and cancer
This story was all over the news today:
“Ultra-processed foods may be linked to cancer, says study”
The Guardian, 15th Feb. 2018
The news comes from a French study that looked into whether cancer was associated with highly processed foods. As usual, the question is whether the actual results of the study warrant the hysteria currently playing out in the media? (Spoiler: the answer to that is almost always an emphatic NO!) Continue reading
Cancer vaccine breakthrough?
Every once in a while I see a paper that makes me sit up and say “Wow”. They are rare, but when they happen they let us really see the progress that is being made. This week one of those papers was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Continue reading
Does a common drug increase stomach cancer risk?
This story was in the papers this week, linking a very commonly used medication with a doubling in stomach cancer risk. A doubling in the risk of anything sounds bad, but what does it mean in reality?
Vitamin supplements: unexpected consequences
Over the last number of years, the vitamin and nutritional supplement market has grown phenomenally. It is estimated to be worth over $36 billion in the US, up from $17 billion in 2000. It is thought that nearly 70% of the US population take some kind of dietary supplement, and there is much said and written about their use. One thing that cannot be debated however, is the lack of evidence that they do any good. A prime example of this comes from a study published recently about vitamin B supplements. Continue reading
