IT'S TOO HOT TO HIKE!

Linda at 20, attending Western Michigan University.  I was lucky some college boy didn't snatch her up!

You really ought to read the NCI Cancer Bulletin (www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin).  I know – nobody wants to think about cancer any more than they have to.  Hell, I spent most of a lifetime trying NOT to think about cancer.  Let’s face it; cancer scared the heck out of me.  It still does.  But, since Linda got sick I think about it all the time.  I hate cancer and I want to wipe it from the face of the earth.  Be that as it may, from time to time there is good stuff in the NCI Bulletin: some encouraging, a little discouraging (and, unfortunately, some downright incomprehensible.)  For instance, in the current issue there is a report of a study of ways to deny solid tumors their needed blood supply.  Apparently this kind of tumor sends out a chemical signal causing blood vessels to form, thereby supplying the interior of the beast with blood.  By blocking those chemical signals one can starve the inside to death, while killing the outside with chemo.  It sounds promising.      

Another article in the NCICB concerns over-diagnosis of breast cancer (in a Norwegian study).  The conclusion of the study was that as many as 25% of women who tested positive (mammography) actually had little, benign things that never would have caused them harm.  Thus, one is supposed to conclude, Norway’s mammogram program caused a lot of unnecessary anxiety, medical activity, and expense.  This is somewhat reminiscent of the prostate cancer arguments I blogged about earlier.  My take??  For every “false positive” there were three women whose lives may have been saved.  Until the people in white coats come up with something cheaper and more accurate, keep getting those exams.

Then there is an “interview” with Dr. Lowell Schnipper (a surgeon?) of Harvard, who is Chair of a Cost of Cancer Care Task Force.  Their report concludes that many tests are performed that are not necessary, or even logical.  The article gives a list – I will let you read them for yourself.  Dr. Schnipper expends considerable effort trying to convince us that it is not COST that is driving these suggestions, but mainly consideration of optimal patient care.  No doubt that is true – but I can’t help but think of the huge pack of tort lawyers circling like wolves just outside the fire-light, waiting for a physician to screw up.  If medical folks didn’t do “c.y.a” procedures at times they’d be more than human.

And, finally, there was an interesting article about a new technique to study brain tumors without doing surgery.  It wasn’t clear to me why they wanted the information.  The technique sounded very expensive.  Maybe I should read it again.

It is over 90 on my patio (in Borrego Springs, CA) right now.  I may be back in Bellingham sooner than planned.