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17FeretsAndaPelican t1_ivlofrs wrote

Call me a pessimist but I am 32 years old and I cannot remember a year going by when the news said a new amazing cancer treatment massively suceeded jn trials and then we never heard about it again. And then the amount of people dying of cancer went up.

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sault18 t1_ivloyj1 wrote

Cancer survival rates have been improving for decades.

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InSight89 t1_ivlscx5 wrote

>Cancer survival rates have been improving for decades.

That's not really in question. Improvements in health and cancer treatments have definitely improved.

But I agree with the OP. It's the periodical headline of "New treatment may cure cancer" nonsense that seems to go nowhere. It's great that they are trying their best. But I feel like it provides a lot of people with false hope.

Having had two relatives die from cancer, one of them in a fairly horrendous way and whom begged to be a participant in such trials, seeing headlines like this is nice but I generally don't give them much thought anymore beyond reading the comments section.

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must_decide t1_ivmahlq wrote

Very interesting graph! What an improvement in some survival rates in just the last decade even, but I’m curious what could be the reasons for the decline in survival rate for ovarian cancer?

And wow, pancreatic cancer… brutal!

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Lisagreyhound t1_ivnypwq wrote

The brca genes are both for breast and ovarian cancers. Detection of ovarian cancer is still terrible. So perhaps women with a brca gene survive BC but then get ovarian cancer? (A total guess).

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su_baru t1_ivmn7p4 wrote

The oncology sector has the most new drugs approved each year, each of them being approved on the basis of adding some benefit over traditional regimens. The improvements may seem minor with each new drug approval but the net effect over many years is drastically improved cancer outcomes.

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17FeretsAndaPelican t1_ivrdshj wrote

I hear you. But I watched my mum die in 2003 (not looking for sympathy) and a few months ago I watched blow for blow the same thing happen to someone else like it was an action replay. I'll believe it when I see it. Until then I'm just gunna donate to cancer research and ignore it until I have to go through it like most people.

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su_baru t1_ivtwgid wrote

I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure my previous comment provides no comfort when you see it happen to friends and family.

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17FeretsAndaPelican t1_ivut78i wrote

I also don't want people to think I'm discounting the incredibly hardworking researchers and doctors fighting tirelessly to save lives. They do absolutely everything they can.

I'm just whinging.

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Mavman11 t1_ivmbvjs wrote

I agree with you. I feel like I see an article like this once a week and we've still been using the same treatment methods for years

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Mounta1nK1ng t1_ivphc1n wrote

Amount of people dying of cancer went down despite people continuing with behavior that increases cancer like smoking, being overweight, not eating enough fruits and vegetables, and eating too much processed meat.

We're better at detecting it now, and better at treating it.

Also people overly hype mouse trials to get funding, but humans are not mice. The results frequently don't translate well.

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