reply to post by Phage
From Link 1:
Abstract
AIMS: The debate on the funding and availability of cytotoxic drugs raises questions about the contribution of curative or adjuvant cytotoxic
chemotherapy to survival in adult cancer patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We undertook a literature search for randomised clinical trials reporting a 5-year survival benefit attributable solely to
cytotoxic chemotherapy in adult malignancies. The total number of newly diagnosed cancer patients for 22 major adult malignancies was determined from
cancer registry data in Australia and from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results data in the USA for 1998. For each malignancy, the absolute
number to benefit was the product of (a) the total number of persons with that malignancy; (b) the proportion or subgroup(s) of that malignancy
showing a benefit; and (c) the percentage increase in 5-year survival due solely to cytotoxic chemotherapy. The overall contribution was the sum total
of the absolute numbers showing a 5-year survival benefit expressed as a percentage of the total number for the 22 malignancies.
RESULTS: The overall contribution of curative and adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia
and 2.1% in the USA.
CONCLUSION: As the 5-year relative survival rate for cancer in Australia is now over 60%, it is clear that cytotoxic chemotherapy only makes a minor
contribution to cancer survival. To justify the continued funding and availability of drugs used in cytotoxic chemotherapy, a rigorous evaluation of
the cost-effectiveness and impact on quality of life is urgently required.
****22 malignancies.**** AND THEY MANAGED TO COME UP WITH THAT FIGURE??? HELP?
From LInk 2:
Incidence and death rates are per 100,000 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 US Std
Population (19 age groups - Census P25-1130).
a SEER 17 areas (San Francisco, Connecticut, Detroit, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico, Seattle,
Utah, Atlanta, San Jose-Monterey, Los Angeles, Alaska Native Registry, Rural Georgia,
California excluding SF/SJM/LA, Kentucky, Louisiana and New Jersey).
b US Mortality Files, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
c SEER 17 areas. Based on follow-up of patients into 2008.
d Mesotheliomas of the Pleura are included in the separate group Mesothelioma for incidence
but are included in the Pleura grouping for mortality.
- Statistic could not be calculated due to less than 16 cases in the time interval.
Your study has small print.
Theres something fishy. If Cancer had an over all survival rate of 60% it wouldnt be one of the most greatly feared diseases in existance.
****Plus we have two contradicting medical studies, that vary humungously in stats, big difference between 2% and 60%...****
I'll do some more digging and see what I turn up.
edit on 7-8-2012 by Sinny because: (no reason given)