“We believe that this crisis is largely a result of our own misconceptions about health. In our rush to aggressively treat anything labeled as “cancer,” even among older, frailer people with low-grade diseases who are much more likely to die from other causes, we often over treat patients, causing unnecessary costs, unnecessary care fragmentation, and unnecessary pain and suffering for patients. By focusing our attention on the continuing “War on Cancer,” we are too often distracted from more important health concerns.”
“Our rush to prioritize cancer over all other diseases is often unjustified and most likely stems from our deep-seated fear of the disease. “Cancer phobia” has existed at least since 1955 when the term was coined in “A Plea Against the Blind Fear of Cancer.” Unfortunately, the strong emotional reaction we have to a cancer diagnosis often leads to unnecessary, aggressive treatments that end up being more harmful than the disease itself by compromising other, more important aspects of health.”
Emilian Snarski M.D. Ph.D. 