On: Chemotherapy, Then and Now

[dekhn]

I used to work in cancer research and I don't think it's fair to say that we're experiencing a revolutionary improvement. It looks pretty marginal to me. Sure, some cancers (the "easy" ones) are making significant improvements and grinding down on death and recurrence rates.

But most of what you are describing is forward-thinking, not an accurate description of today.

[iskander → dekhn]

Were metastatic melanoma and NSCLC considered "easy" before immunotherapy? My understanding is that they were near certain death sentences.

I think that the progress so far certainly looks revolutionary compared with the previous few decades. I also agree though that a lot of excitement is related to perceived future benefits.

[mitchtbaum → iskander]

> I also agree though that a lot of excitement is related to perceived future benefits.

Yes. On this path, the promised land is always around the bend.

[dekhn → iskander]

are you ignoring all the major (incremental) advances made in the previous few decades? Like adjuvant chemotherapy?

You are also ignoring the immense dollar cost we had to make to have these achievements- not really justified by the massive expenditures required.

[iskander → dekhn]

I'm relatively new to cancer research (start 4 years ago), so I might be ignorant of significant advances.

Did adjuvant chemo improve long term survival for any disseminated cancers?

[mitchtbaum → dekhn]

"A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points." - Alan Kay

Thank you for helping stay on track.