"Deciding Against Cancer Treatment: When It's Appropriate"

1 min read
Source: WIRED
"Deciding Against Cancer Treatment: When It's Appropriate"
Photo: WIRED
TL;DR

Evidence suggests that our bodies are often good at finding and removing cancer cells, and even slow-growing cancers may not pose a real threat. Medical interventions for cancer may not always improve survival rates and can have life-changing repercussions. It can be difficult to make rational decisions based on statistical considerations when faced with a cancer diagnosis. Mathematician Hannah Fry shares her experience of undergoing a radical and aggressive surgery for cervical cancer, which left her with a chronic condition, and questions whether the calculation of risk involved in deciding whether to undertake a specific cancer treatment was made without considering what she really cared about.

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