Why have cancer treatments not improved in twenty years?
After discussing this with some of my Healthcare colegues, I wanted to throw this question out there on yahoo. It seems to me that Cancer treatments are not any better now than they were in the eighties. It seems like decades ago that we started using chemotherapy and it is still the main course for cancer treatment.
Cancer - 5 Answers
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1 :
Cancer treatments are better now than they were in the eighties. You're right; it was decades ago that we began using chemo; it was the 1940s. A number of new chemotherapeutic agents have been developed from the eighties up until now; these agents have increased efficacy and decreased toxicity. (For instance, Carboplatin and Oxaliplatin have much less GI, neuro, and ototoxicity than Cisplatin, the first platinum-based chemo agent.) Also, treatment for chemo side effects has improved dramatically with the advent of drugs such as Neupogen, Neulasta, and the "setron" class of antiemetics. Who are your healthcare colleagues, btw?
2 :
Actually, had I been diagnosed 20 years ago, I would have died. I have had aml ( a type of leukemia) twice. In the end, I needed a bone marrow transplant, but I had no matching donor. They were able to transplant me using cord blood from the donor bank. I know THAT wasnt available in the 80s, as it was a clinical trial just 2 years ago. Statistically the 5 year survival rate for my type of leukemia is like double what it was 20 years ago.
3 :
Honey what planet have you been on? Or have you been in a coma? Cancer treatment have come a long way in twenty years honey. Surgeries such as radioactive seed implant have gone mainstream. Better screening techniques have caught cancers such as anal and colorectal earlier, thus improving the survival rates. Less toxic drugs have lessened the chance of lasting or serious side effects. Newer drugs such as Tamoxifen citrate and Didrocal have dramatically cut the recurrence rate.
4 :
Cancer treatment has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. It is unrecognizable form 20 years ago. Three-dimensional medical imaging was in its infancy in 1989. Today it is possible to "see" tumor structures that previously could only be assessed through exploratory surgery. Massive advances in pharmaceutical therapies, particularly with the advent of monoclonal antibodies, have totally revolutionized cancer treatment. Better radiation targeting methodologies and reduced dosage levels have made radiation therapy more accurate and effective. I don't know where you and your "colegues" get your information. However, oncologists and their colleagues would agree that cancer treatment is vastly superior today than it was 20 years ago.
5 :
Cancer treatment has come a long way since the 80's I find it hard to believe that you have "Health care colleagues" because that is an absolutely absurd comment to make and anyone that is in the health care industry has seem the improvements. Chemo is still a main course for treatment but the chemo drugs have made great strides.
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Title : Why have cancer treatments not improved in twenty years
Description : Why have cancer treatments not improved in twenty years? After discussing this with some of my Healthcare colegues, I wanted to throw this ...