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We're going to see a lot of this.
The Federal government wants to redefine "Cancer" to mean full blown life threatening lesions, and exclude early stage "tiny" tumors that may not become full blown cancer.
What are the implications: CONVENIENTLY reduced costs due to far less screening and testing to catch early stage cancer.
Hopenchange!
The federal government wants to reduce the number of Americans diagnosed each year with cancer. But not by better preventive care or healthier living. Instead, the government wants to redefinethe term “cancer” so that fewer conditions qualify as a true cancer. What does this mean for ordinary Americans — and should we be concerned?
On July 29, 2013, a working group for the National Cancer Institute (the main government agency for cancer research) published a paper proposing that the term “cancer” be reserved for lesions with a reasonable likelihood of killing the patient if left untreated. Slower growing tumors would be called a different name such as “indolent lesions of epithelial origin” (IDLE). Their justification was that modern medical technology now allows doctors to detect small, slow-growing tumors that likely wouldn’t be fatal. Yet once patients are told they have a cancer, many become frightened and seek unnecessary further tests, chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery. By redefining the term “cancer,” the National Cancer Institute hopes to reduce patient anxiety and reduce the risks and expenses associated with supposedly unnecessary medical procedures. In technical terms, the government hopes to reduce “overdiagnosis” and “overtreatment” of cancer....
...With respect to the definition of “cancer,” downgrading some conditions as no longer being “cancer” can and will used to justify reducing “unnecessary” screening tests (e.g., mammograms for women between ages 40-49). Mammograms can now detect the condition known as “ductal carcinoma in situ” (DCIS), which would no longer be called a cancer under the new proposal.
However, a certain percentage of DCIS lesions can and will progress to clear-cut cancers...
Why The Federal Government Wants To Redefine The Word 'Cancer' - Forbes
The Federal government wants to redefine "Cancer" to mean full blown life threatening lesions, and exclude early stage "tiny" tumors that may not become full blown cancer.
What are the implications: CONVENIENTLY reduced costs due to far less screening and testing to catch early stage cancer.
Hopenchange!
The federal government wants to reduce the number of Americans diagnosed each year with cancer. But not by better preventive care or healthier living. Instead, the government wants to redefinethe term “cancer” so that fewer conditions qualify as a true cancer. What does this mean for ordinary Americans — and should we be concerned?
On July 29, 2013, a working group for the National Cancer Institute (the main government agency for cancer research) published a paper proposing that the term “cancer” be reserved for lesions with a reasonable likelihood of killing the patient if left untreated. Slower growing tumors would be called a different name such as “indolent lesions of epithelial origin” (IDLE). Their justification was that modern medical technology now allows doctors to detect small, slow-growing tumors that likely wouldn’t be fatal. Yet once patients are told they have a cancer, many become frightened and seek unnecessary further tests, chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery. By redefining the term “cancer,” the National Cancer Institute hopes to reduce patient anxiety and reduce the risks and expenses associated with supposedly unnecessary medical procedures. In technical terms, the government hopes to reduce “overdiagnosis” and “overtreatment” of cancer....
...With respect to the definition of “cancer,” downgrading some conditions as no longer being “cancer” can and will used to justify reducing “unnecessary” screening tests (e.g., mammograms for women between ages 40-49). Mammograms can now detect the condition known as “ductal carcinoma in situ” (DCIS), which would no longer be called a cancer under the new proposal.
However, a certain percentage of DCIS lesions can and will progress to clear-cut cancers...
Why The Federal Government Wants To Redefine The Word 'Cancer' - Forbes
