The New Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines
Posted by reclaimingmedusa on December 11, 2005
By now probably most of you have seen the story about the new guidelines for treating breast cancer. To say that this is a welcome breakthrough would be an understatement. But what is truly disturbing is the statistics about how many women have been treated with chemotherapy even though it is only effective in a small percentage of breast cancers. Associated Press medical writer Marilynn Marchione writes,
“But the worst part is, it only helps about 15 percent of those who get it after the usual surgery to remove their tumors. Roughly 25 percent get worse despite chemo. A whopping 60 percent would have been fine with hormones alone.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051210/ap_on_he_me/breast_cancer_1
Looked at another way, that means that 85% of patients who have received chemo were subjected to the toxic regimen that can cause a host of hideous side effects UNNECESSARILY. The only folks who benefited from that were the shareholders and CEOs of pharmaceutical companies, many of whom fund and serve in advisory capacities for the very organizations that promote early treatment. Very bad medicine indeed.
Of course there will be those who say that until recently, we could not distinguish between those who would benefit from chemo and those who would not, and this is true. But bear in mind that this is a very ‘cure’ oriented business. Virtually no research is being done to look at the causes of breast cancer. Finding and stopping the cause or treating breast cancer without massive drug regimens isn’t profitable. And with pharmaceutical companies facing the lose of 85% of their market for these drugs, there would be little incentive for them to have looked at this earlier and more rigorously. The damage that has been done to women’s lives, not only by the disease, but by its treatment is truly staggering. The time to demand that resources be devoted not only to treating this disease but also to stopping it is way overdue.
Anonymous said
On the eve on my mastectomy, I discovered this article. Today, I appear young and physically fit. Your article reflects my thoughts and reaffirms my conviction to question my need for post-op chemotherapy. We are not forsaking our faith in science, our loved ones, or our medical professionals, by questioning the etiology of scripted statistics, current literature or underlying business agendas. As individual patients, we are entitled to be treated on a case by case basis. Ultimately, it should be the patient’s discovery, knowing and decision making that leads her to define what treatment options will best suit her.
Lucinda Marshall said
I am very touched that you responded to what I wrote. You are very wise to trust yourself and your own wisdom and ability to chose for yourself, something that seems very, very difficult to do with this disease. I hope that you will keep in touch and let me know how you are.