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As I get older, I notice more and more people suffering from (and dying from) cancer. Some of them are cancers that are hard to detect, such as pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, ovarian cancer and liver cancer. Inevitably these are only discovered due to other symptoms and are often terminal. You may not think you are a candidate for cancer, but you can never tell. Ben Sasse and Victor Davis Hanson are two men who would never have imagined the cancers they are fighting.
But many cancers are detectable. I wouldn't have felt the lumps in my breast until long after the mammogram would have found them.
I receive a cancer newsletter that is sent to me because I agreed to participate in a study group, CPS-3 Cohort. It was a random solicitation, and because a dear friend was dealing with lymphoma, I thought I might participate in her honor if I was in the group. Periodically they ask people in the group if they would like to participate in some testing, and also send out surveys for us to complete. The American Cancer Society asks only for volunteers, and I’m glad to do this little bit for research. The newsletter quoted some outstanding cancer news from Cancer Statistics:
The five-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined has reached 70% for people diagnosed between 2015 and 2021—up from 49% in the mid-1970s. Notably, survival gains have been especially strong for advanced and historically fatal cancers, with distant-stage survival doubling from 17% to 35% over time.
That cancer screening you’ve been putting off? Go for it—it might be a gift of life.
Discussion (20)
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How is it different than an annual physical?
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Do all doctors check the prostate? Women have to go elsewhere for a mammograms.
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Also men and women both should be checked by dermatologists. Skin cancer is a big deal.
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Mine does, both physically and through my blood lab work. I would think that cancer would show up through the white blood cells. But, thinking isn’t my strong point.😁
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My doctor, who is a good guy, recommended a relatively new screening process by a firm that was unknown to me. It is not covered by insurance, requiring an out-of-pocket payment of about $800-1000, money well spent in his opinion. Apologies for not having the name at hand since the brochure is now in my desk drawer, which swallows anything in it in perpetuity.
There are more than a few of these companies, so I will see what I can find.
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