Extreme Medicine
The heat is on again in the world of cancer treatment, both literally and figuratively.
More and more doctors are now using an extremely aggressive procedure to treat certain colorectal and ovarian cancers called Hipec, in which patients first undergo surgery to remove any visible cancer, then have heated chemotherapy pumped into the abdominal cavity for 90 minutes to kill any remaining cells.
Although it has given some patients hope, there is almost no evidence that the treatment is more effective than traditional chemotherapy.
Barron H. Lerner on grotesque cancer treatments that didn’t work.
That was definitely a grotesque article.
Experimentation does lead to better outcomes but it can take a while. Childhood leukemia is treated with the same chemo drugs as 30 years ago. But the way the therapy is administered is different. Survival has improved from very low rates to very high rates in the process. But it’s not new drugs; it’s new ways of administering the old ones.
Reminds me of the book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer.
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-History-War-Cancer/dp/0465015662/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8331163-5656711?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193856977&sr=1-1