Saturday, January 17, 2009

Cancer: Early Detection Is the Answer

There's a brilliant argument forming in literature about defeating cancer which urges us to rethink our approach. And it's all based on this one compelling argument:

90% of people live if we find cancer early.
10% of people live if we find cancer late.

Wired magazine (January 2009) has a great article about this approach. The article, written by Thomas Goetz, states that we should stop trying to cure cancer, and focus our research and money on detecting cancer. When you consider that the National Cancer Institute spends just 8% of its research funds on early detection, you can see the argument.

1 comment:

why said...

Great entry. Succinct, to the point, makes a powerful point. How does one influence the spending of money on research vs cure?