BLINDED BY SCIENCE

ON THE face of it, there is much to cheer about on the cancer front. This week comes the news some breast cancer patients may be able to avoid gruelling chemotherapy and take a pill to stop their cancer returning; while a form of immunotherapy is significantly extending the life of men with advanced prostate cancer. However, tempering this was research last week revealing that the amount of follow-up monitoring of some NHS cancer patients is woefully lacking.

It goes to show that you can have all the advances you like but, if you offer this as a form of conveyor belt medicine, quickly wheeling patients in and out, then they will make little difference in the end.