I’d love to do a study of column inches of negative trials versus positive ones. This Swedish study in the BMJ, published on the 31st March, found that over 20 years of screening, in almost 1500 men, there was no change in death rate from prostate cancer whether you had prostate cancer screening or not. As […]
Continue Reading →Cancer Research UK and 1 in 8
Radio 4 news: “1 in 8 women will get breast cancer”. It’s based on a press release from Cancer Research UK. And it is not helpful: these are the figures, below, for risk of breast cancer you want to know (from their press release) . At present, the headline figure media outlets are using isn’t helpful, and […]
Continue Reading →Here’s a funny thing
I didn’t know that Karol Sikora had set up the the business of screening well people with CT, MRI et al. How interesting, considering the advice from the National Screening Portal. And how interesting, too, that they recommend as one of their ‘partners‘ ‘The Causeway Retreat’ which “offers individual and group addiction & stress therapy […]
Continue Reading →Bleak October for breast awareness
What do a prawn sandwich, a pair of Laura Ashley pjamas, crocus bulbs and some raspberry chocolate got in common? You can buy them all in aid of Breast Cancer. This is ‘breast cancer awareness month’. I have been attempting to suggest that perhaps it isn’t such a good idea for the last decade at […]
Continue Reading →Prostate cancer screening: what do the papers actually say?
Lots of press attention has gathered around the latest research on prostate cancer screening. To be clear: there is no NHS screening programme for prostate cancer screening. Instead, if men want a screening PSA test they can ask for it from their GP. The DoH’s press release in response to the latest research looks like this: […]
Continue Reading →The scandal of poor diagnosis in dementia that’s not
New research is a ‘wake up call’ for GPs- at least, according to Professor Steven Field, who is quoted today in the Telegraph as saying that doctors are needing more training in recognising dementia symptoms. The paper is in the BMJ, here, and I am rather amazed at the conclusions that both Field and the […]
Continue Reading →Waky up time: pathology isn’t black and white
..and if I remember much from histology, it often comes in shades of pink. The NYT today has an interesting article; shock horror – cancer that might not be. It focuses on the DCIS phenonema – if you have been reading for a while you’ll know that ductal carcinoma in situ is a ‘cancer’ that […]
Continue Reading →Overtreatment is fact, say Pelican
Well done to the Pelican charity who have said, of prostate cancer, in a press release: “Pelican is concerned that many men with low risk cancer are being over-treated, with resultant negative side effects of urinary and sexual dysfunction. Pelican is now directly funding clinical research that could make diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer […]
Continue Reading →Sense from Scandinavia, and where is the UK?
Here’s a great editorial on informed consent in screening. 15 years ago, I always felt a bit alone when voicing my concerns about the way that medical screening tests were often oversold to patients, who weren’t often told of the problems and failings of testing, never mind the problems we could end up dealing with […]
Continue Reading →The new self-smear test: do we want to be tested for HPV?
HPV is the cause of most cervical cancer. The relatively new vaccine against it hopes to deliver some immunity (for how long? – there are stories yet to be told). The problem is that it is very hard to tell who will not naturally clear HPV infection by themselves – most women do. This article […]
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